#so you could say that her favourite flowers are ''lilies of all kinds'' (which includes spider lilies and lilies-of-the-valley and so on)

[fell-court]

I have some new pieces of trivia to share, courtesy of a post I saw on twitter:

Clio's favourite plants are clovers - she's always really loved the idea of them bringing good luck, to the point that she actually basically named herself after them! (I keep going back and forth about whether her full name is actually Clover and Clio is technically a nickname, or whether Clio is her full name, but the idea still stands either way I think.) She just really wants to be the type of person who can help things be better for those around her, like a little good luck charm to help things go their way. Additionally, she can always be seen wearing a clover flower in her hair, which I represent in-game using a white dahlia corsage because it sort of resembles a very large one. From what I have read, in terms of plant symbolism, white clover flowers mean "I promise", and clovers in general obviously have that strong association with luck, especially when four-leaved.

Lorenza's favourite flowers are lilies, which is perhaps ironic considering that lilies are toxic to cats and she gets mistaken for a Miqo'te. They are also a common Italian flower, which fits the fact that Lorenza is technically supposed to be Italian (since, I am in part)! I specifically associate her a lot with the concept of purple spider lilies, which.. I'm not sure are actually something that can or do exist IRL, but I threw the Makai Moon Guide's Circlet on her at one point while the dye was still there and it looked too cool not to try and spin something fun out of (plus, the idea of her being associated with a flower that doesn't technically exist is also fun). Spider lilies, especially the classic red ones, symbolise things like death, loss, separation, and abandonment - which definitely fit a good few of the themes of Lorenza's story when you think about it.

Tsutsuji is very heavily associated with azalea flowers, to the point that they have since become the alias that she is known by. Most people assume that they are her favourite flowers for this reason, and she does definitely like them, but her actual favourites are citrus blossoms. Azaleas can represent things like patience, modesty, temperance, and fragility.. none of which match Tsutsuji very well in the slightest.

Ajisai's name may mean "hydrangea", but her actual favourite flowers are thistles. This tends to baffle people, as nobody would expect such a timid and gentle girl to have a soft spot for such a prickly plant. Thistles represent nobility and endurance, but many of them are also important plants for pollinators like butterflies.

[cressidagrey]

you'll be made of ashes too

Summary:

Elain Archeron makes the most beautiful bride.

Azriel...Azriel copes. 

Warnings:

Rhys Bashing, Azriel has a horrible time

Notes:

Mostly Canon Compliant Through A Court of Silver Flame including the Azriel Bonus Chapter with some teeny tiny changes, which are explained in the story (a difference in the necklace arc). Set around 1 year into the future from that point, where it veers off wildly.

(thanks to @firefly-graphics for the super pretty dividers!)

Elain Archeron was the most beautiful bride the world had ever seen. 

Azriel was sure of that . 

A flower meadow come to life , clad in a white dress that was shot through with her favourite blooms, sparkling with every step she took. Hair falling down her back like spun gold, whiskey brown eyes filled with the kind of happiness that nothing could touch. 

She was irrevocably happy as she married her husband. 

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind how much she adored him as she gazed at him with such love in her eyes. 

Lucien looked at her in awe as if she were a precious, precious thing he didn't deserve. 

Azriel watched from the shadows as the person he loved found her happily ever after with somebody other than him. 

Elain Archeron married Lucien Vanserra on a gorgeous spring day in the garden of his townhouse in Velaris. 

The garden bloomed with the couple’s love and Elain’s love for the flowers that she had planted, roses and lilies and daffodils. A whole ocean of them, blooming brightly for their mistress. 

Azriel watched. 

It was all he could do. 

All he had done over the last year as Elain and Lucien had fallen in love. 

After that catastrophic solstice. 

That would-be kiss. When Azriel still thought that maybe…maybe he had a chance. 

He hadn’t. 

Rhys had made sure of that. 

So you will leave Elain alone. If you need to fuck someone, go to a pleasure hall and pay for it, but stay away from her. 

Like that was all he had wanted from her. 

Like that was all Azriel was good for. All that he wanted. It hadn’t even passed Rhys’ mind that Azriel had actual feelings for Elain. Or maybe it had and he hadn’t cared. Azriel didn’t know which was worse. 

But it hadn’t mattered either way, because Rhys had pulled rank. It hadn’t been his brother saying these words, but the High Lord of the Night Court. 

What Azriel wanted…it hadn’t mattered. 

Not that it ever had before. 

He should get used to that by now. 

He had followed that order. What else was he supposed to do? He had left. Left their friendship in tatters…and Feyre had played matchmaker. Elain had moved on. Lucien had a chance. They had fallen in love. 

Just like the cauldron had wanted. 

He had gotten to see that every family dinner he attended, even when his attendance got rarer and rarer. 

Saw how Elain, beautiful Elain bloomed under Lucien’s attention. When Azriel could stomach to look at her. When there wasn’t Rhys reminding him with harsh words if he so much as dared to look at her for too long.  

He stopped coming so often.

It was better that way. 

The question was just for whom. 

He thought that maybe if he didn’t go…then it wouldn’t quite hurt so much. But that wasn’t true. It still hurt. Even more maybe. 

Likes somebody cleaved his chest open and burned out his heart. 

And then they had announced their wish to marry and…well. 

That was it then. 

The people around him found their happily ever after. 

Rhys and Feyre. 

Cassian and Nesta. 

And now…now Elain and Lucien. 

It seemed like the cauldron knew what it was doing after all, didn’t it? 

There weren’t even words that could describe his bitterness. And he cut off that line of thought before it could…result in anything unpleasant. 

Not now. 

Not here. Not where Rhys could hear.

He could feel his shadows curl against him as the evening progressed. Trying to offer him any comfort they could, regardless of how little it was. They slithered against every bit of skin they could find, cloaking him in darkness underneath his clothing, as he was reduced to watching. 

Mor pulled him to dance once, because, of course, she did. 

Morrigan. 

So beautiful, so unattainable. Pining after her had been safe, because why not want the unattainable? 

It wasn’t like he had ever really had a chance with her. And a part of him had known that from the start. 

Morrigan had been unattainable. (And so Azriel hadn’t…hadn’t needed to think about it. Not really. Whether he deserved her or not, because it was Mor and he wouldn’t be able to have her anyway.)

But with Elain…with Elain…Azriel had thought he had a chance. 

Elain in all her beauty and softness and gentleness…Everything good in the world…He had seen her and he had fallen in love. 

And then it had been taken from him before he had ever had a chance to go for it. 

He watched. The Bride and Groom. The friends and family surrounding them. 

He slipped into the shadows because that was the one comfort he had right there. The one thing that he could do. 

He waited and he watched…he saw Nyx in Feyre’s arms, looking halfway to sleep already, saw Feyre watching the other Faes dancing… He slunk out of the shadows. They followed along with him. 

They had clung tighter to him over the last months, ever since that solstice, slipping underneath his leathers, clinging to his wrists and ankles, like they wanted to assure him that they were there. Or maybe to shackle him. 

He wasn’t sure anymore. 

Not anymore. 

He didn’t care anymore either. 

“I can take him,” he offered to Feyre. Holding out his hands for his nephew. He could do that. Hold him. He didn’t want to dance. He wanted to go back to the shadows. 

She exchanged a look with Rhys. “Thank you, Az,” Rhys said as Feyra passed Nyx over without hesitation. Azril took him, just about a year old, wings sleepily fluttering as Nyx yawned and moved closer to him. 

“Good boy, Nyxie,” Feyra whispered before she grasped her mate’s hand and pulled him towards the fun part of the party. Azriel quietly swayed in place, Nyx sleeping against his shoulder, a scarred hand gently holding him in place. 

He wondered if Nyx was ever going to look at them in disgust. 

They were dripping in blood, but for just a moment, he could forget that. 

He forgot all of that. 

Until he felt nothing, was nothing at all. 

He was good at that. 

If he wasn’t…well, then he wouldn’t be there anymore. Then Azriel would have ended his horrible existence already. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought about it through half a millennia of life. 

Or especially over the last year. 

Sometimes he sparred with Cassian and the instinct of self-preservation wasn’t there anymore. He wondered what would happen if he just…stopped to fight back. 

He never did. He wouldn’t hear the end of it from Cass. 

But the thought was there as he watched the love of his life falling in love with another male. 

Nyx slept until his parents returned… until it was late enough that Azriel wasn’t the first person to go…until Cassian was drunk enough that he didn’t try to get Azriel to get drunk as well. 

He said his goodbyes. 

Although it felt like he was ripping out his heart, he forced a smile on his face as he congratulated Elain and Lucien. She smiled at him. He wanted to hoard that smile away somewhere, wished it was…wished it was there on her face for another reason entirely. 

But it wasn’t. 

It didn’t matter. His pain didn’t matter. 

It never had. 

It never would. 

And then, finally…He let the shadows take him. 

He resurfaced in the forest, feet away from his house. 

His house. Because as much as he loved Cassian, spending time with him and Nesta at The House of Wind was not his version of a fun time. Especially not with everything that had gone down. 

Being surrounded by a freshly mated pair, watching his brother being so utterly…in love and happy…Somebody thrust a knife into his chest and twisted. 

And so he had bought this house, hidden away…still in Velaris, on the outskirts, built into the mountains, surrounded by forest…

Alone. 

Nobody would hear him scream. The wards would take care of that.

He staggered as he hit the ground. 

And then Azriel gave up trying to push it all away from him. 

It didn’t matter anymore. Rhysand was far away enough from him that he wasn’t going to be the witness to Azriel…falling apart. 

Nobody would be the witness. Just the forest and the sky and stars. 

The shadows converged upon him.

Maybe it should scare him, but it never had. They talked to him, told him stories… were always there, even when nobody else was. The shadows were a part of him as true as his right hand was. 

And right now they muffled his screams as he bellowed into the sky. Pain apparent in every single second of it, as he screamed his pain and grief into the void. 

The shadows tried to comfort him. They always did. Many voiced, bundled into one. Master…

They tried. 

But even they couldn’t stop the pain that threatened to rip him apart.  

Azriel thought he knew pain.

Of course, he did. 

He just needed to look down at his hands to get a reminder. Grotesque, half-flayed skin that covered his knuckles. Every winter they hurt. It didn’t matter that it had been 500 years since he first received these scars. 

The pain of having his wing tied up, two emaciated things weakly, uselessly hanging off his back…he remembered the phantom of that every time he stretched them nowadays. 

And then there were dozens and hundreds of other pains…scrapes and bruises, broken bones from practice gone wrong, knife wounds and sword nicks…ash arrows. 

He knew it all. He had experienced it all.

Physical pain and emotional one as well. 

Born a bastard, step-brothers loving to torment him…spending the first years of his life in a dark cell without even a window…seeing his mother one hour a week, used by his father to hurt his mother… He had lived through all of it. 

But somehow a part of him had believed that maybe…maybe that was over now. He had found and fought for his family. Right? 

And still, somehow, losing Elain was…Losing Elain was the pinnacle of half a millennia of torture. 

He screamed. 

He didn’t know how long it lasted. Did it matter?

Not really. Nothing mattered anymore.

Nothing mattered as he cried and sobbed and railed against the forest ground, pounding it with his fists, burying them in the damp ground…

For the first time in his life, Azriel thought…that maybe giving it all up was worth it. 

Why not? What did it matter? 

All life had for him was more pain. The cauldron may have given other faes their perfect mate. Not him. 

Who would even care ? 

His brothers? Sure, for a moment. But they had mates that would take care of them. They had each other.  They wouldn’t be alone. Everybody seemingly had somebody . 

Just Azriel. He was…alone. 

Master isn’t alone!

Right not alone. 

The shadows weren’t amused by that thought at all, poking him in the ribs. He wanted to laugh at how sharply they disagreed. 

Normally, he was disciplined about them. He never let them talk to him like that, berate him into anything…but the last year he had depended on them…more often. Let them shoulder the brute of…everything that had gone on. Let them hiss comforting things to him and complain about Rhys…let him feel like maybe he wasn’t the only one who thought something was unfair. 

Shadowsingers were rare for a reason. They died young because they couldn’t live with the incessant hissing of the shadows surrounding them. And Azriel…he wallowed in them. 

Why not? What did it matter?

He stared unseeing into the night sky. 

He should get in the house. He didn’t want to. 

The shadows slivered up, against his neck, rubbing against his skin. They never felt hot or cold to the touch, just a velvety sensation…not unlike a snake. He couldn’t even remember the last time another person had touched him like that. It must have been decades ago.

Master should go into the house, they whispered. Master needs to rest. 

(Did he mention that they could be surprisingly pushy? But did it matter? Not really.)

He wanted to protest. Why did it matter? 

It didn’t. 

None of it did. 

And his chest still felt like it was caving in.

Master…Master, please.

Even his shadows were worried about him. That was the only reason he could fathom why they would ask him something like that. Soft. Imploring. 

Like…Like a friend? Or a lover? 

He forced himself up from that forest floor. The shadows gently pressed down onto his body, nearly like they wanted to praise him. Good, Master. 

He trudged up into his house. 

Open the door, the shadows whispered. Master, open the door. 

He opened the door

He hadn’t even bothered to furnish it.  He had survived a childhood with nary a bed, so what did it matter now? Neither he nor the house were anything more than empty shells.

He could have used magic to make it inviting, to light the fireplace, to maybe do something that wasn’t just opening the door…but it was all he could do. 

The house was dark. 

That was alright. 

Darkness was what he knew. Darkness protected him. 

Always had, ever since his childhood cell. Why change it now? It didn’t…

The shadows spilled into the house and he stepped in after them. Pulling his jacket off, his shirt…all of it muddy with forest grounds. He never wanted to wear it again. Didn’t want to ever remember this night. Didn’t want…Didn’t want to live through this anymore. 

That was as far as he came. 

He didn’t want to go further into the house. He didn’t. 

So he just collapsed into one corner, wings curled protectively around himself. 

He had sat there that morning, trying to force himself to attend the wedding. 

He had done it. Pure willpower. Or maybe stubbornness. He had been known for his stubbornness for centuries, after all. But now there was no more stubbornness left. There was nothing left anymore. 

The shadows swirled around him, like even they didn’t know what to do anymore. He thought about sending them away, but he couldn’t. They were the one comfort he had. 

What did it matter? 

What did that say about him ? 

He closed his eyes. 

He couldn’t help but see Elain. 

It was all there in front of him, every moment they had shared. Every conversation they had. Every smile she had gifted him with. 

The headache powder she had given him…He had never used it. He had stared at it when he couldn’t sleep, he had kept it on his bedside table in the House of Wind and…It had been comforting. For months it had been comforting. How often had he held it in his hands and tried to smell if maybe there was still a whiff of Jasmine and Honey clinging to it?

The pair of earplugs meant as a joke to help with the noises of Cassian and Nesta’s nightly activities…The Rosequartz necklace he had given her. Or tried to give her. Before it all went to…when she had given it back to him, he had wanted to return it to the shop he had bought it from first but then finally he had hung onto it.

He had held it in his scarred hands so often, thinking about how he didn’t deserve to even look at the beauty before him. 

And then they had announced their wedding and in a fit of rage, he had thrown all three things into the Sedra. 

He shouldn’t have done that. 

But he was already a monster, so what did it matter?

There had been no gifts this year. 

It was better that way. 

The tears fell down his face but he couldn’t even bother the energy to wipe them away anymore. 

Tomorrow he was supposed to do his job. Azriel had no idea how he should do that when it felt like a knife was lodged into his chest. 

He would get used to it. He would. 

He always did. 

It had been a crazy hope anyway. 

Monsters like him didn’t get…what they wanted. They got what they deserved . 

And Azriel knew that he simply wasn’t good enough for a cauldron-blessed mate. 

He closed his eyes, tipping his head against the wall. The shadows seemingly pulled tighter against him, trying to cover him whole…they had done the same back then as well, trying to offset the lack of a blanket with their very presence. 

Master…Master, go to sleep, they whispered to him, the voice, their many voices, an echo. Soft, indulging…trying to be comforting. 

He wouldn’t be able to sleep. He knew that. He wouldn’t be able to sleep, he didn’t want to sleep, not to be greeted with nightmares and memories. 

He didn’t know what was worse: The things he had done or the things he hadn’t. 

He had drenched his hands in blood to protect the Night Court and Prythian. Or at least that’s what Azriel told himself. To pretend that the things he had done were…just. Not right, never right, but maybe he had a good enough reason to do what needed to be done. 

He was an expert at that after all. 

Cloaked in shadows, that whispered the secrets of the land to him, with Truthteller on his thigh…he was the Night Courts spymaster after all. 

He did what needed to be done. Until he felt nothing, was nothing. 

It was all he could do after all. And still, he knew…He was simply not good enough. 

Not good enough. 

The words followed him since he could think. Born as the bastard son of an Illyrian noble who was well known for his cruelty and not much else, used as punishment for his mother and a plaything for his half brothers…not good enough for a stepmother that kept him locked away in a cell without even a window. 

Not good enough once he reached Windhaven camp, without even knowing the one thing that every Illaryan should know…how to fly. 

Not good enough . 

He wished he was like Cassian, had his brash extroverted personality, believing in the good of people…he wished he was like Rhysand, a powerhouse with mythical powers, who had that inbred arrogance….

Not good enough. 

He was neither. 

He just…existed. Surrounded by the shadows that always surrounded him, the one thing that he could count on that would never leave him. 

They pulsed around him like they tried to promise him that they would stay with him. 

That would be nice, wouldn’t it? Back to only his shadows as a company, just like in his cell. There was some humour in it, he was sure. But then, in his cell, he had known that every day would be worse than the day before. Outside of it…outside of it, he had hoped that day one day there would be…more. 

He had been wrong. 

So back into the cell with him. 

Sometimes he wished that he really felt nothing. He was good at pretending. Of course, he was. He was a spy. 

He was good at pushing it all away until he felt nothing, was nothing…

But still, he felt things. 

He didn’t know if it was love, didn’t know if he was capable of love at all. He wondered if his brothers knew that. Maybe that’s why Rhys had warned him off. Elain deserved better than him. Rhys must have known. 

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid…

Master, stop, the shadows whispered, tightening around him. A reminder perhaps? That they were there? Wouldn’t leave him? Would be there even if nobody else was? 

He wanted to thank them. He couldn’t. 

He could just feel the pain deep within him, welling up once again. 

It didn’t matter. 

Not anymore. 

Though now…now with Elain happily married, with his own heart burned out of his chest…maybe finally he would get that.

Nothing . 

An existence bookended by nothing. 

He would do his job. His duty. For the Night Court, for Pyrithian. 

Of course, he would. 

But if…if something happened to him…then that was alright as well. 

It was. 

He felt nothing. 

He was nothing. 

What did it matter?

It didn’t. 

It never would. 

[kylopen]

Dating an ‘edgy’ girl

(House neutral)

Warnings: I have a tendency to swear

Read the Marauders era version here

Includes: Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Fred, George and Neville.

I can’t add a “read more” thing for some reason I’ve tried many times so idk sorry

Draco:

* You both meet when he bumps into you in hogsmeade.

* He fully hits you with that “who the fuck do you think you a—“

* Then he slowly looks up to find a girl, drenched in black clothes.

* “You what?”

* Suddenly, he’s lowkey a bit intimidated.

* He tries not to let that show.

* “You... you heard me”

* “And who even are you?”

* He was shocked and embarrassed that someone like you didn’t know who he was.

* (You definitely knew who he was)

* After that first meeting he was beyond intrigued.

* He began to try the most stupid things to get your attention.

* This would include throwing things in your direction.

* Until one day, he hits you with a small pocket book, to which you replied with a swift punch to the stomach.

* Okay but why did that turn him on

* He would take on a nicer approach after that, sending you notes in the shape of things he knew you loved, like your favourite bird or flower.

* You were sure he was just messing with you.

* “What do you even want Malfoy?”

* He plucks up enough courage to finally say it

* “You”

* He loves your confidence and how unafraid you are to be yourself.

* You hit him with the “I’ll think about it” which leaves him stunned.

* Of course you actually wanted him too, you just wouldn’t give him what he wanted so easily.

* That’s pretty much how your whole relationship went

* You would try your hardest not to give Draco what he wanted so easily because honestly his little whines and groans when he doesn’t get what he wants are so cute.

* Some people expected your relationship, others didn’t.

* Lucius straight out doesn’t like you. Narcissa on the other hand, often likes to take you shopping or to tea, she loves how happy you make her son.

* Not to mention your similar taste in style.

Harry:

* “I made a friend today” Luna would tell harry.

* “That’s very nice Luna” Harry chalked it up to an imaginary person

* But then you joined them. A very real girl.

* A very beautiful girl.

* He automatically expected you to be rude, based on how you were dressed but as soon as you started conversing with Luna...

* Heart eyes.

* You spoke so kindly and you were so sweet.

* You ask for his name, despite knowing it already because he was probably sick of hearing “you’re Harry Potter!”

* And he knew it.

* That just made his little heart melt.

* You would be whining about potions being difficult when he whips out the:

* “I’m pretty good at potions... I can tutor you if you like”

* Hermione would roll her eyes knowing that he was only good because of the “half blood prince’s” book.

* You spend quite a few evenings in the gryffindor common room studying.

* You finally pass a potions exam, giving Harry a sweet kiss on the cheek, leaving behind a dark lipstick print.

* He honestly loved the mark you left.

* It was something he adored more when you finally start dating.

* Black/Purple/red lipstick stains everywhere.

* People really didn’t expect the chosen one to choose someone so... dark and edgy...

* People would try to convince Harry that maybe you weren’t the one for him.

* He’d get super mad at those comments.

* Fred and George would make constant sex jokes about the two of you.

* “Been tied up lately Harry?”

* “Rough night?”

* He’d look at you pleadingly but you’d just lean back with a big old smirk on your face.

* It was quite amusing to watch him get flustered over the thought of any of that stuff happening

* Remus was the one to tell you that Lily would have absolutely loved you.

* That meant the world to you and Harry.

Ron:

* You meet Ron when he is running down the hallway and smacks straight into you.

* You go into full rage and the poor boy just stands there.

* His lip quivers in fear and your face softens.

* “Sorry I’m just having a shit day and you spilt my sweets” you pout, pointing to the sweets scattered around the concrete floor.

* “I- I’m really sorry...”

* He gets a proper look at you

* And boy does he love what he sees.

* Like, you look so fucking awesome to him.

* “Maybe... I mean... if you want... I have a stash... back at my dorm... if you maybe wanted to come eat”

* He would be delighted to find out there’s a childish side under all those black clothes.

* He asks you out suddenly when you meet him looking good as fuck.

* Not that you normally didn’t look good but you had obviously put more effort into your daily look and he couldn’t help himself.

* When you started dating people were beyond shocked.

* Molly was fairly apprehensive when she first saw you walking with her son

* But then she saw the two of you interact with each other and realised it was perfect.

Hermione:

* you meet in the library.

* Some Slytherins knocked over her pile of books on purpose and you come to her aid.

* She doesn’t look up, too embarrassed to face whoever was helping her.

* When she finally faces her saviour her heart: thump thump thump.

* She’s instantly captivated.

* You notice her flustered movements and red tinted cheeks.

* UwU

* “Would you like something done about them? I have a few pranks up my sleeve” you ask

* “T-They’re not worth it anyways it’s fine”

* She takes the moment to scan you fully, the healed boots, the choker.

* Wow

* She stands abruptly, muttering a thank you before scurrying off.

* Not without a flirtatious comment from you “if you’re really thankful Granger, maybe you can eat lunch with me some time” you’d wink and she’d walk away faster.

* Naturally, Hermione was too nervous to even attempt to get you to eat with her

* So you took matters into your own hands, strolling over casually, sitting yourself down next to her.

* “Hey Granger” you’d smile and rest your head on your hand, admiring her flustered face.

* The others would look at the two of you questionably, unsure as to what’s going on.

* She would love hate how you managed to make her so flustered so easily.

* Your personalities blended so well, you would make sure Hermione doesn’t overwork herself and she would make sure you don’t take too much time off.

* When you both finally start dating Hermione would constantly be staring at you.

* Like I mean to the point you distract her from working.

* “Like what you see Granger?”

* “Oh shut up”

* “Make me”

* Her parents absolutely adore you, being muggle born you fit in very easily with her and her family.

Luna:

* you noticed Neville ask Ginny to the Yule Ball at dinner.

* you focus your attention the cute blonde beside them.

* And then you hear some of the other third year girls making comments and joking about Luna being too weird to be asked to go to the ball.

* Third years were only allowed to go if asked by an upperclassman.

* So you slid into the seat next to her.

* The girls quiet down for a moment and you take your chance to ask her.

* “Wanna be my date to the ball?”

* The other girls make comments on your dark outfit choices.

* “I would love to accompany you... but you don’t have to ask me just because Ginny is going”

* You notice the girls snicker and mention something about you both looking odd and “made for each other”

* Luna would hold your hand to stop you doing anything.

* Because honestly, she loved how different you both were. It just meant you could both be yourselves around each other.

* She wore a beautiful dress. It spilled to the floor around her feet, a gorgeous blue and around her neck, a peacock collar, feathers and all.

* Her hair was swept up into a bun, loose curls falling down around her neck and face

* Time stopped for the both of you.

* Your black dress with the long lace sleeves.

* You both couldn’t look more different yet so made for each other as you walk arm in arm into the hall.

* Xenophilius would be beyond happy when Luna would describe you too him.

* Seeing his daughters face light up was more than enough.

Fred:

* You meet Fred when he loses control of his broom during quidditch practice.

* He flew directly into you, falling on your body.

* “Fuuuuuck” you groan in pain, eyes screwed shut.

* Fred doesn’t even get off you because he’s just awestruck.

* Like how can someone look so edgy yet so cute at the same time?

* He finally snaps out of it and helps you up.

* You vomit.

* He panics.

* And that’s how he ended up staying in the hospital wing with you until curfew.

* You talked about anything and everything.

* “So... the Yule ball is coming up—“ he would start.

* “I have a date”

* “O-Oh yeah sure no I mean—“

* “And he hit me with a broom the first time we met” you wiggle your eyebrows.

* He leans back, trying to be all confident and chill only for the chair to give way.

* “You’re such a dork”

* “Says you. Trying to look all intimidating but you’re a little jelly bean” he would say as he boops your nose.

* “My soul is black okay. I’m like a kidney bean not a jelly bean” you would huff and he would just swoon.

* You both began dating. No one really asked, it just kind of happened.

* The fact that you get along with George is so amazing to him, it was important you did.

* He would watch lovingly as you interact with his brother.

* “What’re you staring at?” You’d try to be intimidating all the time but Fred would just laugh and ruffle your hair.

George:

* the first time he ever meets you was during Umbridge’s reign of terror.

* Him and George are talking to a first year who was hurt by her.

* You come storming round the corner.

* For a second he thought you were going to hit him.

* And then you turn to the kid.

* “Are you okay Vince?! What did she do to you?!”

* The boys don’t know what to say.

* “Is this your brother?” They ask worriedly

* You explain that you were put in charge of the first years of your house

* Umbridge comes out with her “naughty children deserve to be punished.”

* Before George can even open his mouth you’re storming over to Umbridge, your black heeled boots making you tower over her.

* “I’ll show you a fucking punishment” and before you can do anything else George grabs you and pulls you away

* But Man, his heart was pounding.

* You were so caring yet so aggressive at the same time.

* And he loved it.

* “Close your mouth mate you’re catching flies” Fred would joke.

* You tell them you need to get the boy back to your common room and George basically screams that he’ll accompany you.

* Of course you let him.

* He tries to ask you out before you enter your dorms but he fails to build up the confidence.

* So you plant a small kiss on his cheek.

* Heart eyes as he walked back to his own dorms, hand on the cheek you kissed the whole time accompanied by a cheesy, content grin.

Neville:

* he meets you when you join Dumbledores Army.

* Shy boi

* He cannot speak when you start a conversation with him about his patronus.

* “That’s cute” you would comment.

* But when he does open his mouth:

* “Y-Youre cute. WAIT THATS NOT WHAT I MEANT”

* You laugh and because of your slightly intimidating appearance he automatically assumes you’re laughing at how stupid he is.

* But you’re actually laughing at how simply adorable he is

* You’re the one to start every conversation because he’s always too nervous to.

* That is, until Seamus slips some truth serum he stole from Snape into his juice at breakfast.

* “Sit back and watch the show”

* Hermione would automatically go nuts when she found out and try to get him out of the hall before you arrive.

* But she was too late.

* “Hi guys!”

* “Y/N, good morning youre looking beautiful as always”

* Your face heats the fuck up. You didn’t expect that to come out of Nevilles mouth.

* “So Neville, how do you feel about Y/N?” The boys would ask.

* And that’s when the truth comes loose.

* He’s still a shy boy in your relationship, but as you both become more comfortable, he begins to act on his own.

* Like, hugging you first, to holding your hand first and so on.

* Everyone is honestly so supportive of Cutie Neville and his edgy girlfriend even though it was unexpected.

* And Nevilles grandmother? She LOVES you. Which melts his heart.

[mahixa]

why you all should read Momentum - an epic story of Remus and Sirius

Written by amazing, wonderful and talented Children of the Shadows, the story is “an epic tale of Remus and Sirius's lives, starting from the very beginning. A love that carries on through trials, tribulations, and war.”

The author portrays all of the characters (including James, Peter, Lily and others) with such incredible depth that the actual writer of HP (what’s her name... don’t remember, don’t care lol) should learn how to write characters from this fanfiction. I know there’s some of you who were not in the fandom in 2006, and maybe some of you prefer to read fics from like, 2010s, and that’s okay! Although the story was not published on ao3 (so on the page that everyone is familiar with right now, all the young and old fans) and it was finished almost 13 years ago, please don’t feel discouraged and give it a try. It’s worth it. I promise.

So here are some of my favourite things about Momentum:

everyone has personality which is complex and complicated and there’s a lot going on here. Any personal struggles, doubts, heartbreaks, hope? - it’s all there, and it’s written like.... *chef’s kiss*

the. connection. between. Remus. and. his. family. It’s so so so important to show his relation with his family members, especially with his parents, because it just adds depth to his character, so he doesn’t seem like a guy who’s only purpose is to be Sirius’s boyfriend. He has other relations, and they are explored in this fic (his friendship with Lily and James is powerful in this one).

James. James Potter. The way he is written here? Magic. Trust me. Like... trust me. You’re not gonna regret it. James is the real MVP.

characters act in a way that is logical and in character for them, and they are not like... cheesy or sappy or two-dimensional whatever reason. They have flaws and act like a human being could act. They make mistakes and have doubts and ask questions and can be problematic. But they learn. The GROWTH in this fic is so wonderful

gay issues and difficulties written accordingly to the period of time (70s). The author pays tribute to how brave the gay people were back then and shows us different aspects of being gay at that time (self-doubt, family issues, that fear of how everyone is going to react, violence, slurs, gay clubs, this impossibility to touch in public. Unfortunately, fucking unfrotunately, in so many cases it still remains to be a huge problem for many of us, but what I’m saying is that it’s important to acknowledge how it used to be as well. I’m not saying these problems are gone now, of course). Sometimes fic writers tend to forget about it and all these aspects and just write these two as being openly and loudly gay - and as much as I would LOVE for all of us, all the amazing LGBTQA+ people to always be able to be ourselves as loudly and openly as we would like to be, it was (and still is in many cases, fuck it, I hate it) not entirely possible.

the humour. This story can be really funny and there were times when I had literal tears in my eyes from laughing so hard when I read it for the first time

James and Lily being the power couple

Sirius and James being brothers BUT them being Remus’s best friends as well

the angst. the angst is really painful. but the fluff. it’s worth it, for the fluff that comes after the pain.

so beautifully written. All the descriptions, all the words, ah, it’s just... it is so easy to read and get lost in it. The dialogues are very realistic (which is, again, another problem that may appear in some fics) and are written in character for these people

the order of the phoenix stuff with the Weasleys and other characters THIS IS GREAT them all being young and brave

Sirius saying bye bitch to his racist family but this not being easy for him, which again - any normal human being would find that hard

Remus and Sirius being in love. But oh boy. This love right here? It’s a totally new definition of loving somebody.

REMUS. AND. SIRIUS. RAISING. HARRY.

here are some of my favourite quotes so you could see what I mean with all of this:

Whoever said Sirius Black and James Potter were the most charismatic and attractive third years in Hogwarts were either insanely blind or were yet to meet Remus Lupin. At least in Sirius's opinion.

***

After all, he [Remus] was anything but normal. There was no way of putting it subtly, the world hated people like him, and he knew for a fact that he was not going to receive any sort of affection from them. So, he craved their love and when his parents got their sudden attacks of overwhelming affection, he clung on to them and returned their embraces and small declarations of love. [...] John Lupin stared into those soft amber eyes, and he let his hand slide, caressing his son's face through the thin glass. 'Love you,' he mouthed before moving away, and Remus nodded.

***

[After Sirius’s prank had gone wrong and Remus ended up in the infirmary]:

'Don't you think the flowers and chocolates are a bit too much, Sirius?' asked James as they walked towards the infirmary.

Sirius finger combed his hair. It was getting a bit too long and he'd sort of grown to like it that way. 'It's called courtesy, James, but I wouldn't expect you to know anything about it.'

'Really? I thought you gave people flowers and chocolates on Valentines Day,' teased James, winking mischievously at Sirius.

***

'Don't be ridiculous, Sirius,' his mother snapped, looking up at him with cold hard eyes. 'Gryffindor is laden with all kinds of lowly people – half bloods, and mudbloods, and what not. I hope you aren't fraternising with any of them.'

Sirius put down his fork and looked his mother directly in the eye. 'I am; three of them in fact.'

***

Sirius caught Remus's hand just as it was about to move away and kissed the heel of his palm softly. 'How were the full moons?' he asked, his lips brushing over Remus's wrist with every word he spoke.

***

[Remus, on the phone with Sirius]

'I'm in muggle jail!' Sirius exclaimed happily and there was an ominous silence that followed.

It was broken by the strangled sounds of Remus asphyxiating. 'WHAT?'

'I know, isn't it fantastic?' Sirius asked, obviously misreading the tone of Remus's voice as excitement. It didn't help that James had fallen to the floor in hysterics and was screaming 'brilliant!' between uncontrollable laughter.

***

[The kiss] It was heat. Heat like they'd never experienced before and an overbearing pressure pushing against them, drawing their bodies closer and closer together. They were drowning in each other, suffocating, completely out of control.

[vampiresuns]

Aelius Anatole Radošević De Silva

Anatole has changed a bit as a character since i was around the first time, so he’s getting re introduced. His open to make friends.

art by @elizastarkart​

Name: Aelius Anatole Radoševic De Silva. He has two surnames because his mother is latina. He is a mixed Latine-Slav, with family that is all latine, vesuvian, and slavic. People he’s friend’s with call him Anatole (russian/greek pronunciation, he doesn’t acknowledge the French one). Only people he has a strictly professional relationship with, and his uncle call him Aelius.

‘Aelius’ means sun, while ‘Anatole’ means sunrise. He’s fully aware of this, he chose his name himself.

His nicknames are:

‘Nana’ is the most common nickname, and the one most people use.

His mother calls him Lilito, Nana, Nanito, Toly, Tolito, Tortolito.

His father calls him Lily or Lilu.

Toly, Tolytoly or Tolito are nicknames used by his maternal grandmother, his aunt, and his Vesuvian family.

He will not mind if you want to call him Toly, but you cannot call him Lily/Lilu if you’re not his father.

Asra came up with Nanatole, which he doesn’t like but lets Asra call him anyway. Asra also came up with Nana Banana and that is absolutely forbidden.

Family: on his father’s side both the Radošević, who are slavic (yugoslavic, specifically), and the Cassano, a prominent Vesuvian family who has had a hold of the Consulship for years.

On his mother side, the De Silva.

His father’s name is Vladislav, but everyone calls him Vlad, he’s an alchemist, a polymath, and works in what is most similar to biochemical engineering. He has one bother, named Valeriy, who you, however, might now as Valerius. Vlad’s biggest personality trait is being head over heels in love with his wife, and adoring his son more than he thought it was humanly possible to care about someone.

His mother’s name is Louisa De Silva (if you want to add her mother’s surname, it’s Lascal). The L-o-u spelling was a registry mistake she never changed. She moved half across the world while her native country suffer a military-civilian dictatorship to study Medicine. She swore never to go back as long as vestiges of said dictatorship remained in the country. She has two sisters: Paris, who lives in Vesuvia, and Alma, who remained with her parents out of her own choosing. Her medical experience include having been a volunteer war doctor. She didn’t change her surname when she got married.

The Radošević (pronounced Radozheveech) and the Cassano have been entangled families by friendship for generations upon generations, with some marriages between them. Notoriously: Vlad and Val’s father married a Cassano, Matilda, and his bother Mircea, Anatole’s great uncle, also married a Cassano: Florentino. Mircea’s brother and Matilda Cassano died when Vlad and Val were children still, so him and Florentino brought them up.

The Radošević are an overall eccentric family (think the european Addams family), whom are noted for: one, their self-sufficiency/self-preservation, which comes out in a very ‘eccentric people of the world unite’ manner. They appreciate people with character. Two, their leanings towards trades/professions, they do not conceive not doing anything (work hard to play hard). The Cassano, while sharing the quirk, they add the zest for life. It’s like they grabbed the Radošević and told them “you have forgotten how to live and we will remind you how.” Both of them are ridden with racially ambiguous bastard you cannot kill in any way that matters. They simply refuse to. Someone (either the courtiers or Lucio) compared them to roaches, they took it as a compliment.

This will tell you a lot about Anatole’s character.

On a last note, Anatole’s an only child. He has a good relationship with his parents, albeit marked by a sense of distance, solely because he was privately tutored from age 15 and on, which required him to travel a fair share. He was an argumentative teenager, but always cherished whenever he could see his parents. The older he gets, the closer they all become.

Favourite Food: Cake

Favourite drink: Coffee, in general.

Favourite Flower: Iris

Birthday: Nov 1st

Age: 29 (I calculate his age as if he had been born in 1991)

Zodiac:

Sun: Scorpio

Moon: Virgo

Rising: Libra

Mercury & Mars: Scorpio

Venus: Virgo

Patron arcana: Strength & Ace of Swords

Strength

Upright: inner strength, bravery, compassion, focus, Reversed: self doubt, weakness, insecurity      

Ace of Swords

Upright: breakthrough, clarity, sharp mind, Reversed: confusion, brutality, chaos

MBTI Type: INTJ-A

Gender: Transmasculine, but Nonbinary. Uses He/Him pronouns only

Orientation: Identifies as NBLM.

LIs: Julian, Muriel, @ilyamatic​‘s Andrico, @thelazaretmakesmesad​‘s Vishal.

“The sun-like strategist with a solution for everything, and a whole lot of hope in the future.”

More details under the cut!

Physical appearance:

art by @lesbianarcana​

5′4. As you can see in the sprite down below, while he’s slim but with muscle, out of doing a moderate to high level of physical activity. The man has a nice waist and inherited his mother’s hips, which he’s very proud of. He likes his legs and his butt the most about himself

Dark brown eyes, long eyelashes. His hair is naturally black, but he dyes it blond.

Has a mole over his right eyebrow, on the left side of the bridge of his nose, and on his left jaw. He has freckles.

An horizontal scar on his nose, which he got by getting hit with a wooden scaffold square in the face. His nose wasn’t broken out of sheer dumb luck. He has a smaller cut on his cheekbone, which was done by a fencing sabre which lacked the proper tip protection/button. It was done onto him by someone else.

The nose scar is how he met Julian before the plague, as he was the doctor which cured his face.

He has several tattoos:

Right arm: A rapier on his inner forearm. Over his elbow he has a black work band, and over it the words ‘THE SUN IS MY UNDOING’ in all caps, circling his arm.

Left arm: a snake wrapped around his forearm, near to the wrist. The Odyssey quote ‘let’s have a toast to the incompetence of our enemies’ under the inner crook of his elbow, and a floral half sleeve.

Chest and Torso: AMOR OMNIA VINCIT over where his heart is supposed to be. He has laurel leaves on the base of his waist.

Legs: ‘o serpent heart hid with a flowering face‘ in his upper, inner thigh, like really up his left inner thigh. A floral anklet on his right ankle.

Languages Spoken: Too many. He speaks nine languages.

Magic Specialities: His magic is connected to both light and languages (it is a play on words with ‘logos’) so he is both adept in photokinesis — he is able to create and manipulate sources of light — and language related magic — which includes incantation and language manipulation. He learns languages as a faster rate than most people, and while he cannot speak or literally understand a language unless he learns it, his magic allows him to intuitively grasp the meaning of words that are being spoken to him.

This capacity also makes him very good at recognising hidden intentions in people. This is not an ability that he broadcasts having, and when he later succeeds Valerius as the Consul, it is something which aids his diplomatic work but he keeps private.

His words tend to carry more weight sometimes because of his magic, something which he can’t always control — it depends on many factors — so he tries to choose his words carefully and with consideration.

His familiar is a Raccoon, named Antu.

Occupation: While he did study magic and is in touch with his magic, he studied politics, diplomacy and international relations. By trade, and out of will to help people, he is a political analyst and, later in life, a Statesman.

Personality/Trivia:

Willpower or Stubbornness? Depends how you look at it. Passionate, generally devoted, hopeful, independent and sometimes defiant. He is a people-oriented introvert. Competitive, but not aggressively so.

Smarter than he gives himself credit for. Overall charming, even debonair.

Curious by nature, hates having his decisions taken for him.

He is proper, sometimes even distinguished, but he is feral. A firm believer in being kind and compassionate with people, until you cross him one too many times, then nothing will make him taint his vindictive wrath.

Is he humble? For the most part. His humbleness comes from knowing his own limits and knowing he’s not infallible. He does have, however, a good deal of pride in himself and trust in what he can do, and he doesn’t like being underestimated.

He’s not particularly loud, though when the chatterbox is on, then it is on, specially if he’s nervous. He is often never still. 

He’s known he has ADHD since he was seventeen.

Likes dancing.

He fences, almost every Radošević fences/sword fights, and he will let you know at the slightest chance. Which can be either him simply being hyper-fixated in fencing, him flirting, or him letting you know that if the occasion rises, he’s armed.

Friend shaped, lover shaped if you’re daring enough.

He wrinkles his nose when he doesn’t like something.

Speaking of which: he doesn’t like abuse of power, the Court, injustice, supremacists of any kind, unkind, hurtful and selfish people in general; he doesn’t like red meat (he says it tastes like metal or dirt), narrow minded people, incompetence, specially when displayed by people in positions of power, and purposeful apathy.

A mastermind archetype, but he draws his power from connection. He does not conceive a life not lived with others.

A bit of a bastard, he enjoys a good laugh.

He plays the piano and the harp, he sings, he cannot draw, he’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol (which doesn’t really stop him), he likes the opera because he likes watching other people’s drama without being dragged into it, and his favourite season is winter. Also likes playing chess, reading, coffee, flowers, a well tailored outfit, learning, languages, the sea, mysteries, winter, a well laid argument, collecting quills, music, winning, knowing he loves and is loved in return.

When he was 7 he bribed his dad for more dessert, and he ate so much he vomited. His sweet tooth hasn’t gone anywhere, it is alive and well.

Perceptive little bastard, will knife cat you for the sake of it. He has a way more present sense of humour than what he comes across.

Would call himself a ‘trans masculine Mary Poppins’.

He is closest to his parents, his uncle, my other ocs Leonore, Medea and Sabine, his cousins Amparo Cassano and Milenko Radošević, Natiqa, Asra, Portia and Nadia.

If he liked women, he would be paired with Nadia. The possibility both terrifies and fascinates me.

@ilyamatic​, @viviae​, @gaybirdwrites​, @arcanaprentiss​ @apprenticeofcups​

[actiobellicahq]

Happy Holidays, students! We here at ABHQ wanted to say a huge thank you to all of our members. You’ve all participated so well in recent events, and have made our rp holidays so special! We love you all dearly, and we wanted to give your characters a little holiday gift of their own just to say thank you for being wonderful.....

It will never be discovered just who was behind it, but each and every student awoke this morning to find a present sitting on their doorstep, or to find an owl interrupting their breakfast, nearly dropping a parcel in their cereal bowls. A small note seems to be attached to every single gift, neatly detailing what they all were in need of, or what their heart desired, whether they knew it or not. Better not tell the professors if you received something scandalous, students!

The following gifts were delivered:

Amycus Carrow receives a charmed suit jacket that changes colour on command. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the charming chameleon.’

Ajax Graves receives a box with a puppy inside, a red ribbon around it’s collar. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For your personal therapy.’

Alecto Carrow receives a gold lighter that never runs out of flame, along with a note that says ‘For your pyromania and love of tobacco.’

Alexander Yilmaz receives a golden quill with infinite ink, along with a note that says ‘For the pursuit of eloquence.’

Alice Macmillan receives a defensive charmed bracelet, which sounds when someone is about to cast a spell. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the protection of the one who protects others.’

Ambrosius Burke receives a ring that changes colour when he’s being lied to. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the truth to be revealed.’

Analiese Crabbe receives a live crab, with a note that says ‘For you to have a Crabbey friend.’

Andromeda Black receives a kit of paint brushes that never fray, along with a note that says ‘For your colourful passion.’

Antigone Graves receives a soft blanket, charmed to have the scent of her home. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the girl who needs a bit of her past.’

Antonin Dolohov receives a small vanishing chest, with a note that says ‘For the man with something to hide.’

Araminta Valentine receives a small zirconium dragon for her bracelet, along with a note that says ‘For someone who’s spirit never gets extinguished.’

Archibald Graves receives a brooch of his family crest, along with a note that says ‘For your homesickness.’

Arthur Weasley receives a Rube Goldberg machine, along with a note that says ‘For the most muggle wizard I’ve ever known.

Bellatrix Lestrange receives a fine silver and emerald bracelet with ‘BL + RL’ etched into the back of it. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For your recent vows.’

Benjy Fenwick receives an indestructible football he’d been eyeing up in Hogsmeade, along with a note that says ‘For someone with lots of energy to burn.’

Bilius Weasley receives an extensive healing kit, with a note that says ‘For you to start down your path.’

Calista Travers receives an antique jade hair ornament, with her initials etched in the underside of it, along with a note that says ‘For the jewel of her mother’s eye.’

Charlie Wood receives an older but breathtaking violin, along with a note that says ‘For the ears of your closest.’

Dahey Ryan receives a first edition copy of Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration, which is signed by the author. Enclosed is a note that reads ‘For the boy who yearns for knowledge.’

Daisy Hookum receives a mini garden of self-watering succulents, with a note that says ‘For the sun that shines through your window.’

Damocles Belby receives a phial containing werewolf fur, along with a note that says ‘For the most curious of us all.’

Declan Macmillan receives a colour changing scarf and a smaller matching one for Sir Sprinkle. Enclosed is a note that reads ‘For you and the little one to stay warm.’

Dirk Cresswell receives a trunk that automatically organizes his belongings, along with a note that says ‘For your knick knacks.’

Dolores Umbridge receives a white fluffy ball resembling a kitten. The collar jingles when she’s picked up. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For someone who will never have enough cats.’

Dorcas Meadowes receives a book of advanced old texts, along with a note that says ‘For you to put to good use.’

Doris Purkiss recieves a journal that hides any entry the reader wishes, along with a note that says ‘For your secrets.’

Edith Fortescue receives a locked box with no key. The outside seems to have carved ancient runes, one on each side of the box. What ever could they mean? Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the riddler among us.’

Ellerie Kiriakis receives an enchanted painting of her mother, along with a note that says ‘For her spitting image.’

Emmeline Vance receives a framed enchanted collage of her favourite places, along with a note that says ‘For those days when you’d rather be somewhere else.’

Evan Rosier receives a sneakoscope, along with a note that says ‘For the devious and deceitful.’

Evelyn Kiriakis receives a Mappa Mundi, along with a note that says ‘For the seeker of creatures of every kind.’

Fabian Prewett receives a phial of Angel's Trumpet Draught, along with a note that says ‘For protection or defense, whatever you shall need it for.’

Frank Longbottom receives an Auror official study manual, along with a note that says ‘For you to be prepared.’

Gideon Prewett receives a jacket with his last name sewn into the back, which magically fits ever so perfectly. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For someone who deserves to show off his name.’

Gilderoy Lockhart receives a charmed handheld mirror that compliments it’s owner, along with a note that says ‘For someone who never gets tired of flattery.’

Guinevere Montague receives a box with a small egg. Who knows what will hatch out of it? Enclosed is a note that says ‘For your love of all things destructive.‘

Gwenog Jones receives a new set of Quidditch leathers, along with a note that says ‘For the player who’s fire on the field.’

Halim Gamal receives a small pouch of glistening seeds. What will they bloom? Enclosed is a note that says ‘For every season.’

Harriet Arya receives a copy of Moste Potente Potions, along with a note that says ‘For good, not for evil.’

Isabella De Rose receives a colour changing blush, along with a note that says ‘For the fairest.’

Jackson Flint receives a beetle broach. It seems to light up every now and then, but why? Enclosed is a note that says ‘For not only your secrets.’

James Potter receives a box of infinite-refilling bertie botts every flavour beans, along with a note that says ‘For your insatiable sweet tooth.’

Jimi Macintosh receives a leather jacket that never fades or tarnishes, along with a note that says ‘For the punk rock icon of the school.’

Kingsley Shacklebolt receives a foe-glass, with a note that says ‘For keeping an eye on those who’s hearts are not as pure.’

Lily Evans receives a pair of platform shoes that she’d spotted in Hogsmeade a few weeks earlier and loved. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the girl who gives her all without expecting anything in return.’

Lorcan d'Eath receives a self-tuning guitar, along with a note that says ‘For us all to enjoy.’

Lucius Malfoy receives golden horseshoes, along with a note that says ‘For the most pampered, prestigious Malfoy.’

Ludo Bagman receives an extremely large first aid kit, along with a note that says ‘For your love of getting injured.’

Mack Yaxley receives a silver lighter that never runs out of flame, along with a note that says ‘For your love of watching things burn down.’

Mara Lovelace receives an antique chest filled with equipment to press flowers, along with a note that says ‘For the most precious flower among us.’

Marlene McKinnon receives a pair of rollerskates that won’t ever fray or tear, along with a note that says ‘For the adventurous lion.’

Mary Macdonald receives a box full of Hogwarts themed cookie cutters, including a very Fabian looking Quidditch set. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the girl who bakes to make others smile.’

Mason Macdonald receives a pot plant that apparates whenever it’s needed, along with a note that says ‘For your mobile plant needs.’

Millicent Bagnold receives an everlasting sugar quill, which one can write with. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For bursts of creative energy.’

Molly Prewett receives a chicken, along with a note that says ‘For the weirder Prewett.’

Mordred Abbott receives a large book of sheet music, which is charmed to show an entire piece on a single page, no matter how long. It moves with the music. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For music to our ears.’

Morgana Killick recieves a small pouch of False Pennyroyal seeds. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For a rare soul to have a rare flower.’

Narcissa Black receives a boxed moth, one of the rarest kinds in the world. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the weird and wonderful.’

Nikoli Gallagher receives coloured charcoal that never runs out, along with a note that says ‘For those days when you’re feeling inspired.’

Nimue Mackenna receives a box of rare records, all by her favourite artists. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For an old soul.’

Otto Bagman receives a toaster that mysteriously cooks every slice of toast to perfection. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For your curiosity of everything muggle.’

Pandora Joubert receives a deck of beautifully hand drawn tarot cards, some of which sparkle in the light. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For your love of the future, past and present.’

Paris Avery receives a pure silver flask with his initials etched into the front, along with a note that says ‘For your coping mechanism.’

Peter Pettigrew receives an indestructible hamster wheel, along with a note that says ‘For the one with whiskers.’

Ramona d'Eath receives a vial of unicorn blood, along with a note that says ‘For a lost soul.’

Reginald Cattermole receives a bass guitar that he’d been eyeing in Hogsmeade, along with a note that says ‘For your love of music.’

Regulus Black receives a leather bound notebook, along with a silver quill that has infinite ink. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the prodigal son.’

Remus Lupin receives a stone that gives off sunlight when touched, along with a note that says ‘For those times where the moon is too bright.’

Rita Skeeter receives a green quill that has an infinite supply of ink, along with a note that says ‘For someone who never tires of words.’

Rodolphus Lestrange receives a watch with ‘RL + BL’ etched onto the back of it. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For your recent vows.’

Rust Wilkes receives a large diamond-shaped rock, which seems to have something enclosed inside of it, along with a note that says ‘For the curious and the cursed.’

Sebastian Laviscount receives a box of infinite-refilling Norwegian candies, with a note that says ‘For that post-Quidditch sugar rush.’

Seraphina Parkinson receives a pair of dragon hide defensive pads, with a note that says ‘For the girl who likes to play rough.’

Sirius Black receives a set of keys, along with a map of the black lake that has an ‘X’ scribbled in the center. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For my entertainment as well as yours.’

Sybill Trelawney receives a large crystal ball (disguised in a hat box), along with a note that says ‘For the future.’

Sylvie Moody receives The Monster Book of Monsters, along with a note that says ‘For your biting kink, or your thirst for knowledge, whichever is stronger.’

Ted Tonks receives a shape-shifting mustache, with a note that says ‘For all your disguising needs.’

Tilden Toots receives a single flower that changes colour depending on the day of the week and the weather, along with a note that says ‘For our beloved gardener.’

Tobias Hemming receives a sketchbook that enables the sketches to move, along with a note that says ‘For your art to come to life.’

Tristan Mulciber receives a set of embellished brass knuckles, along with a note that says ‘For whatever or whoever your heart desires.’

Valerie Petrov receives a very old, well cared for book on Magical Creatures. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For both personal and professional use.’

Walden Macnair receives a velvet clothed cage, that very suspiciously squawks. Enclosed is a note that says ‘For the man on the bench with the bird seeds.’

(Please note that if your character has received a pet or item of some kind that doesn’t comply with Hogwarts rules or one that can slide under the radar safely, they have been delivered to and must stay at their character’s home!)

Some of these gifts aren’t obviously the most attainable or realistic of gifts, but that’s all part of the fun! We wanted to spoil you all and show you just how much we appreciate you being a part of the rp, as we fast approach the one year mark!

[reggiedarlin]

The Boy in The Band

Chapter Sixteen:

It had been a few days since James and Remus had arrived in Harrogate. Remus had really enjoyed being back in the familiar house, but he still couldn’t bring himself to try and sleep.

 He and Sirius had kept in touch, and by keeping in touch for Sirius was texting Remus every five minutes asking if he was ok. You might think that’s annoying but Remus’ heart was too full of love for his boyfriend he couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed.

 ****

One of the nights he felt really jittery, Remus went down to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. The Potter’s also had one of the Quooker taps, which was lucky for him, so he wouldn’t wake any one up. “Make me one then love.” came Euphemia Potter’s voice. Remus jumped out of his skin getting a sense of Deja Vu from his and James’ night in the kitchen. He made himself and Mrs Potter a brew and handed it to her. “Ta love. Now this probably isn’t a conversation you want to have, but I think you need it.” Effie spoke softly. “Now, Remus, care to tell me why you aren’t sleeping.” “How did you know?” “Mothers always know Remus. Anyway, I know I asked you this the night you arrived, but are you seriously alright after the accident? I know and have seen plenty of people who have had trauma and, or PTSD after an accident. And from what I heard it was an awfully bad accident.” Euphemia worked as a therapist linked to many hospitals including the one, he and James ended up at. She had seen many cases like this. 

“You know, it’s ok to ask for help Remus. No one’s going to judge you, you’ve just been through a traumatic event. No one expects you to be ok straight away.” Effie reassured him with a smile. Remus tried to deny it. He tried to deny that he wasn’t ok, but with Euphemia’s kind face and soft words. He couldn’t hold it in anymore.  She wrapped his arms around him, and it was the last straw, he broke down into a full-on sob, legs buckling, dragging both of them down to the kitchen floor. The kind mother just held him like he was a small child. 

He told her everything. He told her about the reoccurring nightmares he kept having, he told her about the not wanting to get into the van before the drive here but doing it anyway for James’ sake. He told her about the constant checking of the van’s speed and how close they were to the cars in front of them, hell he even told her about Peter. None of this affected the kind woman, she didn’t chastise him for not saying anything about Pete. She just let him cry and let all his feelings out. He cried that much he ended up crying himself to sleep.

 ****

Remus woke up the next morning with a headache. He looked to the side of him to see a glass of water and two paracetamols. Next to the glass, Remus noticed there was a sticky note, he picked it up to see it read, ‘Thought you might need this love.” With two kisses. He silently thanked his saviour Euphemia Potter and swallowed the tablets. He got out of the guest room bed and walked into his en suite. Remus looked into the big glass mirror above the sink. On his cheeks, there were dried tear tracks, and his eyes were red and puffy. “God, I look disgusting.” Remus told himself. He took one of the facecloths placed next to the massive sink and placed it under the tap, rubbing his face with the cloth he noticed how dry his skin was. He looked into his toiletries and grabbed the moisturiser his dermatologist told him to use.

When he was a teenager, Remus’ skin had been prone to acne. No matter what he did he just couldn’t get it to go away, the number of different products he tried probably made it worse. His mam had seen how irritated he was getting over it, so she took him to see a dermatologist to see if they could do anything to help. They had told him that it was completely normal for his skin to be acting like this as the hormone blockers he had started taking were mixing with all the products he was trying and was making it worse. They told him to just wash his face with warm water and then use a moisturiser that was fragrance free so it wouldn’t mess with his hormone blockers. So, he had started doing that and over time, his skin got better. He had been using that same brand of moisturiser since he was 16 and it worked.

After Remus had showered and got changed, he went into the kitchen to find the whole family there. Effie gave him a knowing smile but kept her mouth shut. Then it hit him, he hadn’t had a nightmare last night. He figured it was just a one off and they would probably be back, but it was progress, nonetheless. He walked over to the table and grabbed a piece of buttered toast. “I’m going to see my mam today, if that’s ok.” Remus spoke half a piece of toast in his mouth. “Yeah, that’s fine love, I got you some flowers to take her, her favourites.” “Thanks Effie.” “Want me to come too Moony?” James asked from the table next to his dad. “I think I wanna go alone, seeing as I’ve not visited in a while.” James nodded and went back to his breakfast.

****

Remus pulled up to the cathedral near his old house and turned off the engine. He sat there taking a few deep breaths, so he was prepared to go in. He grabbed the purple lilies of the passenger seat and got out the car. He opened the gate to the cathedral graveyard and walked through the familiar trail to where his mam rested.

“Hi mam. It’s me, I know I haven’t visited in a while, and I’m really sorry about that. I’ve been busy mam, Drowners has been doing really well. I mean, we’re going in tour in September so that’s good right. I also met someone mam, you’d really like him. His name’s Sirius. We met in a really odd way actually.” Remus laughed sitting against his mam’s tombstone. “It was through a competition I came up with. I really love him mam. I haven’t told him yet, but I’m going to. I also got in a car accident, was in a coma for five days. He sat with me the whole time, hell he drove four hours straight after he’d found out. James is doing well; he’s got a girlfriend. Her name’s Lily, like the flower, she’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. I miss you mam, I really miss you, and I’m sorry I can’t visit more often but I know that you would rather me pursue my dream than being held back here by you.” Remus kept talking to her for hours until it started to rain. “Goodbye mam.” He whispered. He kissed the tips of his fingers and pressed them to the top of the headstone and left.

[thurilostiel]

Do you mind talking about your Blind Oracle? She looks very interesting and beautiful!! I really love her design!!! 🥺🙏

Ok so first of all @cringeyvanillamilk @one-leaf-grimoire @shinyshammie cuz you all seemed interested in the OC of mine. Sooo.... *looks over at like 30 pages of written text for BO’s backstory and pet guides* I’ll start with most basic things, in a short list so that you can choose whenever to read all of this or just the summary.  Also Thank you for the name suggestions, they’re really fun and I had Lilith in there as well, but for like a slightly different meaning of the name. Name used by her: ‘Oracle’[after getting her grimoire], Thana Nickname given by Nozel, as she said she wasn’t given a name upon birth: Gulisa, and later Libi Full name: Lilith Razili Graddfa'r Ddraig Title: Blind Oracle Status: Of well respected Diamond’s Kingdom noble familly DOB: 20th of April Gender: Female Pronouns: She/Her Sexuality: [???] she might be ace, but that’s due to a trauma, still questioning Height: 164cm / ~5′4 feet Weight: 54kg / ~119 lb Eye colour: Deep forest Green -green that goes into grey’ish colour spectrum the farther from the center Hair lenght and colour: Long -while down they get past her shoulder blades, longest part goes till her waist- Dark brown with highlights [of slight reddish tones] Skin colour: Delicate carmely tan [typical Central EU skin tone] Special marks/scars: has lots of little scars on her arms and upper back, her eyes have a visible markings on the irises [will include pic later] Magic affinity/magic’s name[as the one written in the grimoire]: Light / Fallen Luster Magic type: Supportive summonings Favourites: food- fresh fruits, ice minties, a big meaty meal, mint ice cream drinks- fruit juice[apple and orange juices], water with frozen lemon/grapes and mint dos- hum melodies, take long walks with her companion[s], experiment with her eyes, making things for her pets and/or others dear to her don’ts- arguing, being descriminated, being in big crowds, having others play heroes for her [i.e. pretend there are robbers nearby and shove her inside an alley to ‘protect her’] Magic Knight Squad: She’s blind so she’s not that confident to get herself into this bussines Race: Half dragon (don’t @ me, you gave me this idea guys, you know where this came from) Personality: kind and shy pesimist, who always looks at the worst possible scenario to be prepared for anything she can think of. Known pets of hers : Emrys - an aftereffect of her father’s experiment, was with her from her 3rd birthday till May5th after her 18th birthday. Unidentified under-race of, what everyone assumed was, a wolf and fox mix, with low nobility mana levels, allowing him to use few ‘spells’ of flower magic. His favourite flower was a Pond Lily, and he loved to snack on freshly cought fishes. Died on May 5th. [need to finish his visuals, tho he’s inspired by a pet in a browser game Eldarya write down ‘Eldarya Rowtsya’ into google and this is really close to what Emrys look[ed] like] Mer - foundling Crystal Eagle of Oracle. He dropped out of a nest on top of a tree under which the girl was resting. He was a little hatchling then, not more than 2 weeks old, the smell of chocolate cookie brought him to such a brave act. Mer was too small to fly back up ot the nest, also Oracle hadn’t noticed that he’s an eagle untill about a month after he joined her on the adventure, and moved on right after giving him the rest of her cookie, making the smol birdie confused as he was never that far away form his nest and decided to stick to her. Mostly because she still got more cookies to feed him. He’s a little grumpy, but he helps her getting around on her travels. He loves chocolate cookies, corn, and ice minties. He’s getting mad really easily, while mad will refuse to eat and fly, instead will be stompin’ angrily on the ground so Oracle will hear him being mad. Meanings of names: Lilith - night monster, monster mother; also believed to be the name of first wife of Adam, a succub that brought fear to little children and pregnant ladies Razili - of Hebrew’s origins meaning ‘Lord’s secret’ Graddfa'r Ddraig - that’s just her father attempt to act human. ‘Dragon Scale’ in Welsh. Due to her mother’s pasing she wasn’t allowed to wear the noble familly name. Gulisa - Little[as in Weak] Heart [Georgian’s origins] Libi - My heart [Hebrew’s origins] Thana - Arabic name meaning ‘Death’ So the backstory goes a little like this: Lilith was taken out of her mother’s dead body about 2h after her death and put into the coffin on her mother’s chest as she was a silent one and not one of servants believed she’d still be alive. Her father was the one to react to her cries and open up the coffin to see his daughter trying to feed herself but getting nothing above few droplets of blood from now uncovered breasts. This caused her to be of a weak heart and health in general, would scratch easily, get exhausted from simple tasks... The father[a dragon and an idiot when it comes to human interactions] somewhat took care of her, not knowing what to do with babies he just stuck to giving her bottles with milk whenever she cried and if that didn’t work get a servant to change her daiper. Her real name was never used inside the castle, her father was using her [draconic version of] middle name or ‘shortenings’- he meant sweetheart but was saying weakheart, meant sweetie when saying hatchilng, you get the point- as everyone took her as a sign and incarnation of missfortune and death, thus called her Thana instead. Their explanation was that no child would be still alive while it’s own twin[brother] was born already half eaten by pests and parasites, and mother having her heart rotten due to a sickness. Last time she saw her father was around her 3rd birthday, month after that he was never seen by her, but they did met a few more times after Lilith was made blind. For years she was left to herself, only cared for in ways of giving her some food and preparing baths and clothes to wear. She wasn’t allowed to study things other than law and the ways of beautiful speach, yet she loved music. She missed her father dearly, but Emrys took up his place greatly, cuddling up to her whenever she was scared, hurt or cold. Her magic started showing around her 5th birthday and since then the elders started getting a bit suspicious. All was going normal, everyday lessons of law and how to speak in front of politicians, break for a meal, then the rest spent with Emrys on a walk around the gardens or in a library stealthy listening to the music lessons on the upper floors. Upon the day of her 15th birthday the elders took her to old ruins, where they marked her eyes with a ‘new emblem’ that was supposed to start a rebelius movement to throw the king from his throne, but after seeing Lilith crashing down with tears of blood and a new moon forming upon the sky they flew away in fear, leaving her there, unnecessarily taking away her sight from her. As the moon started forming, crimson fog hugged the dying girl, a single string of shimmering mana started leading the fog into the noble family castle. Before reaching the gates the unidentified experiment rushed into it and the fog moved back, leaving the castle alone for this day.  Emrys cuddled up to her and covered her with his own mana, focusing on her bloodshot eyes. The fog began cleansing itself, becoming shimmery, as if stardust created it. It later formed her grimoire, the book that would once be called Last Hope, as it’s light was powerful in means of healing and defending, but never there to harm, yet it’s magic was tricky and therefore never the same, no more was it to pleasantly sit back and observe the battle. There was a small peasant village near those ruins, they saw the great light and weird creatures, small circular beings surrounded by silvery feathers and hoops, and some creatures looked like those of stories of old times, the biggest shimmering creature resembled Pan, the great horror of forests. All the creatures dissapeared within a minute and peasants rushed to the ruins. Seeing the young girl in shambled yet definetly expensive clothing and tears of blood streaming down her face they called to her “Oracle! Oh great Blind Oracle! Send upon us a blessing of rain” and so her grimoire started glowing and send upon them the first spell “Moribound wish” which brought the clouds and flooded the noble castles of Diamond Kingdom for whole month. The people heard about an Oracle in old ruins and began coming to her, offering food and crops for a blessing or a prophecy. Her spell was limited, she oculdn’t use it however she wanted, and it called for rest quite often, so people became impatient, rude, envy of such power and ‘luxurious life’ of Oracle. Oracle was inside the ruins for more than 2 years, yet less than 4, she could never tell the time by herself, she always relayed on the good hearted people to tell her what time of the year it was.  Few peasants told the nobles about mysterious Oracle and the blessings she was able to perform- healing some of the elders, bringing rain and storms, and they decided to take her for their own happines. They took her from the ruins on May 5th, after a small battle that she decided to put against them, they killed Emrys as he tried to help her, and put Lilith inside the cage, forced a mask upon her face so they wouldn’t have to see the markings which some of the nobles recognised as the sign of rebelion. After half a year they got bored of her ‘miracles’ and let her go into the wild. She was somehow able to get into Clover Kingdom, her mask easily telling others that something was wrong with her.  But the little bird on her arm was an easy distraction, especialy with how many children would pile up just to be able to pet him or give him some food, so she was able to steal some food from the stands and sometimes money to survive living under the sky. One day she unfortunately tried to rob a Magic Knight Captain, of course not knowing who he was or what a Magic Knight was before that. Nozel Silva was his name, she made a note to remeber that name and upon hearing her explain why she tried to steal from him he actualy took great interest in her story. After a small series of questions which she answered truthfuly, greateful he wasn’t going to put her to jail, He made a decision to let her stay for a week in Silver Eagle HQ where she was able to create few little artifacts helpful in dungeons and unknown areas as well as develop a spell that allowed her to regain sight for a brief moment of 4 minutes. During the week he called her Gulisa, as she told she wasn’t given a name upon birth, and if she was it was long forgotten. Gulisa later turned to Libi which confused the girl, upon asking why he changed his mind he said that it may suit her better, but he’d still prefer to know her true name. Thanks to Nozel’s help she was able to gain money and buy herself a small house which the members of SE often visit after missions in which they found  new artifacts. Often times while practising her magic she’d find a dungeon and explore it with Mer. Few times while in Raquey she was stopped by some male who always asked her for a tea, and would tell her stories about folk-tale creatures, guardians of forests, oceans, skies and mountains, the devils and angels, the dragons and their homes of treasures. He presented himself by name ‘Lonan’ yet seems unsure each time he brings the name up, as if hesitating. He’d always pay for the tea and dessert and leave a package with crystals and some metal parts she’d been looking for. She still travels, but mostly around the borders of Clover and Heart Kingdoms. Searching for new artefacts that could maybe, just maybe, help her regain her sight. “The fact I’ve gotten used to being blind doesn’t mean I don’t want to see someone that I have but meet” “You have your spells don’t you?” “But they don’t allow me to see how I used to. Back then I saw people smiling, now when i use my spell you’re always frowning...” And that would be a brief summary of my OC. *Looks over at the pile of papers* Have I forgotten about something? EDIT: Forgot to add: She can’t fully see by using her spells, they allow her to see the basic outlines and few colours, they depend on her mood and levels of mana she got left, so she’s going blind 99% of time. Her mask was put onto her forcefuly and she was unable to take it down before going to Clover Kingdom. The nobles put her into the half-face mask and stiched it to her face, and she started wearing the ‘butterfly’ one after meeting with Nozel, it was first artifact she made in SE’s HQ. She knew the meaning of name Thana and that’s why she didn’t use it when she was free of elders’ will. Also I might need your opinion on this @thespiralgrimoire

[drsilverfish]

Adam x Michael!Adam in 15x08 - The Integration of the Self and the Shadow

Hey again folks,

Time to write a little something about the Jungian significance of the relationship between Adam and Michael!Adam in 15x08 and what that means for our heroes internal journeys towards The EndTM  (I’m specifically focussing on Dean and Cas in this meta, but Sam is our hero too, of course).

Just a quick refresher -  Jung, who was a psychoanalyst with a bit of a mystical bent, called the unconscious, the Shadow.

That means those elements of the personality or self which the conscious self is unaware of, or rejects. For Jung, that doesn’t mean the Shadow is inherently negative; it can contain much creative potential, when it is contacted and integrated by the conscious mind (often in dreams, guided through therapeutic work). However, when the Shadow is not recognised, it can negatively control a person, because then (repressed) it often leaks through, particularly in the form of projection - whereby rejected parts of the self are projected onto others and become the target of rage or other negative behaviour.  

“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge, and it therefore,. as a rule, meets with considerable resistance.”

Aion: Phenomenology of the Self published in The Portable Jung, edited by Joseph Campbell, Penguin Books, 1976, p. 145.

Integration with/ acknowledgement of the Shadow is key, for Jung, to healthy psychic growth and individuation. It’s not something you do once and then it’s done, either, although the first conscious work to encounter one’s Shadow is often particularly revelatory, but it’s a continuous process of self-reflection.

Image credit: http://www.kerosene.digital/reviving-art-shadow-puppets/

I wrote a lot of Jungian themed meta in S14, where that motif was used particularly overtly in the writers’ room, in relation to Castiel’s encounter with the Shadow entity which guards The Empty (wearing his face) and Dean’s encounter with AU!Michael possessing him (wearing his face). 

Dean and Cas’ Shadow sides are multii-faceted (as are all our Shadow sides) and include, for example, Dean’s low self-esteem and fear of abandonment (triggered by his mother’s death when he was a kid, and the subsequent pressure his father put on him to be a carer to Sammy) and Castiel’s feelings of low self-esteem and unworthiness (triggered by his journey, over and over again, into doubt against Heaven, and his development of “feelings” for humanity/ The Winchesters/ Dean). We have seen them both struggle individually with these issues, and often be negatively controlled by them, and now these issues are also coming to a head between them, as they lie at the root of their present “break-up”. 

In the show’s queer subtext, Dean and Cas’ Shadow sides can also be understood to include their (closeted) queerness, and their anxiety about how powerfully they each love the other, yet fear the other does not love them back.   

There is a link below to my S14 meta masterpost, and if you scroll right down to the bottom, all the Jungian-themed meta is collected together in a post-script, for a deeper background dive:

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/184628959784/drsilverfish-s14-meta-masterpost

So, what does this have to do with Adam and Michael in 15x08? 

We discover in 15x08 that the two of them are in a relationship - not a trapped vessel chained to a comet - but two beings who share Adam’s physical body, take turns at the wheel of conscious control, and have mutually supportive conversations with one another in their shared mind-body. They listen to each other and they trust each other. 

Dean is flabbergasted, after his own recent, tormented and coercive possession by AU!Michael (always a metaphor for his Shadow-side, including the repressive ghost of John Winchester in his head and, in subtext, his closeted queerness):

Dean: “Wait... Michael lets you talk? I mean he lets you... be?”

Adam: “Uh... yeah.... In the cage we came to an agreement. We only had each other.”

Of course, this is not the first time we, or Dean, have come across an angel-vessel relationship like this. In 12x10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets we were introduced to the relationship between the angel Benjamin and his human vessel Madrid:

CAS: “Benjamin is always very careful. Long ago, he found a powerfully devout vessel in Madrid, and her faith, it... she gave him everything – her trust and her body.” DEAN: “Wait. So Benjamin's a woman?” CAS: “Benjamin is an angel. His vessel is a woman. But it – it's – it's more than that. She's not just his vessel.” SAM: “She's... She's his friend.” CAS: “Yeah. Benjamin would never put her in unnecessary danger.”

Thanks to SuperWiki for the transcript:

http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/12.10_Lily_Sunder_Has_Some_Regrets_(transcript) 

I’ve always loved this exchange, because it emphasises the way in which human gender doesn’t apply to angels. We could say that angels are genderqueer and that Benjamin and Madrid’s relationship was a queer one, in the sense that it transgresses human and angelic “norms” (although, that also imposes a somewhat human frame of reference).    

It’s noticeable that both Adam AND Michael are better beings than they were before they got locked together in the Cage in Hell in 5x22 Swan Song. Adam seems less bratty, more reasoned, and Michael seems less arrogant, more willing to listen (to Adam, and hence to others). That is because their mutually supportive relationship is a metaphor for the integration of the self and the Shadow.

In a mirror for Dean and Cas, Adam and Michael!Adam have a conversation in 15x08 where they can clearly understand their respective Daddy issues:

Adam: “Maybe you don’t know your Dad as well as you think you do... Parents keep secrets, right? Does it hurt to ask the question?” 

Michael: “Yes, it would! It would mean that I doubt him, the good son, the favourite doubts his father!”

Adam: “Do you still care about that? After he left you in the Cage?”

Adam, of course, was himself kept as a secret by John Winchester from his other sons. And Michael (in a long-running parallel to Dean) here mirrors an earlier version of Dean, when he was “Daddy’s good little soldier”, as well as mirroring an earlier version of Cas, when he was Heaven’s obedient servant (in between his many rebellions and brain-washings).

Adam and Michael!Adam’s good communication and mutually supportive relationship, which, again, like Benjamin and Madrid, we can read as a “queer” relationship, by angel and human normative standards, is a positive sign-post for our heroes - both in terms of Dean and Cas separately being able to turn, and face, and thus integrate with their respective Shadows (they’ve already done significant work on this, but there is more to come) and in terms of Dean and Cas’ relationship (which Adam and Michael!Adam’s “queer” angel/ human relationship is also a mirror for). Dean and Cas will, this mirror tells us, eventually, be able to talk honestly, and supportively, with one another. 

But first, they must go on a symbolic underworld journey, back to Purgatory, which is again, a Jungian metaphor for the encounter between the conscious self and the Shadow.  

Michael!Adam says, “There’s the door!” as he opens up a rift to Purgatory and holds up the angel-binding handcuffs, requesting to be freed, in exchange. Which, provides us with a symbolic image suggesting that Dean and Cas’ return to Purgatory together will, despite its painful difficulties (which, as I’ve said in my 15x08 spell meta here:

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/189656694954/the-purgatory-spell-in-15x08-love-death-and-an

may involve a literal, or perhaps figurative, enounter with death) be a journey that will set them free (in terms of their encounters with their own Shadows and thus their ability to communicate better with one another):

Jung even described the encounter with The Shadow as a narrow doorway:

“The shadow is a tight passage, a narrow door, whose painful constriction no one is spared who goes down to the deep well. But one must learn to know oneself in order to know who one is.”  

Carl G. Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, vol. 9, pt. 1 p. 21.

And we could thus understand the Leviathan blossom, in this reading, as symbolising the flower of self-knowlege that grows in the deep recesses of monster-land, aka the land of the unconscious. 

N.B - My usual disclaimer applies - reading the queer subtext in SPN does not promise an overt, unequivocal, “confetti, it’s a parade” queer romantic denouement, But, subtext IS part of narrative.

[prince-claremont-diaz]

étoiles et fleurs

Summary: Lucas is next in line for the throne, about to be engaged to marry a young noble woman and he hates it. That is, until he runs into the curious florist, Eliott, on a walk through the city. Lucas has little choices in life, but will one of them be Eliott?

Word count: 2.9k 

Warnings: none

ao3 version:

ii.

Lucas sighed, putting his book down on his knees and turning to look out the window and onto the grounds. The massive garden was alive with colour, the lawn a vibrant green, flowers of every kind covering the hedges and trees and bushes. Roses and marigolds and lilies and carnations, perfectly trimmed and watered.

That day, it was a particularly clear afternoon, only a few pale white clouds bobbing along the pale blue June sky. Lucas could see one of the gardeners out with his clippers, trimming the hedges neatly.

Lucas looked along the corridor for any signs of life, tilting his head back against the window frame, tucking his knees in closer on the bay window. He could barely get a second of peace anymore now that he was technically dating Chloé. Although it was hardly dating since it was arranged and he couldn't stand the girl. The more he got to know her, the more he realised she was physically incapable of not talking, always going on and on about complete nonsense. She talked his ear off at dinner about annoying servants, complained in the garden about friends back home, babbled in the library about her new clothes she was sent.

Opening his book once again, Lucas pushed all thoughts about Chloé out of his mind and continued to read his book.

He was almost onto the next chapter, starting to get into the scene, when he heard quick footsteps behind him, followed by someone grabbing his shoulders. Lucas startled, dropping his book onto the floor with a thud and spinning around so fast his neck clicked. When he came face to face with none other than Yann, his startled frown melted into a grin. "You gave me a fucking heart attack, Yann!" he whined, shoving his friend and getting off the window sill.

Yann snorted, shoving his shoulder back. "Don't be such a drama queen—sorry, prince. It's not my fault you're jumpier than a kitten," Yann replied, smirking and jumping out of the way of Lucas' swat. "Oho, that's not very nice, is it? I know I'm just a servant, but surely you don't have to be so cruel!" Yann mocked defense, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.

"Can I help you, Yann?" Lucas asked, crossing his own arms.

Yann shrugged casually, plopping onto the windowsill with his back against the window. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, your Royal Highness?" Yann teased. He digressed, straightening up. "But really, no. Mum let me go for a wander and I was bored so I came to exactly where I knew you'd be."

"How'd you know I'd be here? No one else knows about this area," Lucas asked, furrowing his eyebrows together, "No one ever comes here because it's not even near any staff quarters."

"Oh, Lulu, you underestimate me," Yann replied, "Of course I know where you hide from your little girlfriend. You're far too predictable, really." Lucas rolled his eyes. "A distant, mostly deserted corner of the castle which is relatively close to the library and has a good enough view of the gardens? Hmm, I wonder how I figured out you'd be here…"

Lucas leaned against the wall by the window and slid down to the floor with his back against the wall. "Okay, so maybe I am a little predictable," Lucas admitted. He lifted his fallen book and flattened out its pages, closing it properly and setting it down by his side. "But can you blame me for hiding? That girl never stops. I needed a break before dinner later on."

"How on earth would I ever manage to talk to her, Lucas?" Yann deadpanned, staring at Lucas, "I'm just the butler's son and she's a noble who is soon-to-most-likely-be-engaged to the heir to the throne."

Lucas groaned, shut his eyes and hit his head against the wall. "Fuck. Sorry," he muttered, "I don't use my head at all."

Yann poked his nose with his finger. "No, you don't," Yann said, "But it's okay. I forgive you."

They fell into amicable silence, Yann watching the gardener water the plats while Lucas fiddled with the pages of his book, legs outstretched in front of him. If he really strained, Lucas could just about hear the chirping of birds outside the window.

"Do you really think I'm going to have to be engaged to Chloé?" Lucas asked after they had been sitting in silence for almost 20 minutes. He looked over his shoulder, making Yann turn his head from the window down to him.

Yann sighed, placing a comforting hand on one of Lucas' shoulders. "I hate to break it to you, but yes," Yann admitted sadly, "Most likely. She's from a noble family that has pretty much always backed your family and she's been basically living here since late April. And you're of marrying age. I think it's safe to say you'll be engaged at least by the end of summer."

Lucas groaned, falling onto his side on the itchy carpet, burying his face in his hands. "But I don't want to marry her," Lucas whined, distorted by his hands, "She's annoying and talks too much and I'm not even 21 yet. I don't wanna marry anybody yet." Yann climbed off the bay window and settled down beside Lucas, forcing him to sit up. "I know it sounds stupid, but sometimes I really hate being the prince." Lucas rested his head on Yann's shoulder, scowling.

Yann reached up and patted his head. "I know, Lucas," he said, "I'm sorry." Lucas frowned deeper, glancing sideways.

"Sorry? What for?"

"Even though you're a royal and have all these privileges, at least I have more choices in life than you."

♤

Dinner that evening was a disaster. Lucas' father called him out for hiding from Chloé all day because she asked multiple people where he was (including the king!). This turned into his father yelling about duty and chivalry and honour and how Lucas would never be a good enough king. Chloé cried, his mother left the dining hall shaking, his father accidentally broke a plate slamming his hand on it in anger and Lucas stormed out of the dining hall with his hands curled into tight fists.

Lucas burst into the hallway, pacing the floor and breathing heavily, tightening and loosening his fists. The doors to the dining hall swung open again and Manon hurried out, holding up her scarlet dress, hair a mess. Lucas was hunched, leaned against the wall, eyes burning with hot tears as he tried to keep himself from punching the wall out of anger.

"Lucas? Lucas, are you okay?" she asked, striding over to him. She held his fists in both her hands, uncurling his fingers to reveal red rimmed crescents indenting his palms. "He's wrong, Lucas. None of that is true. You'll be a far better king than he ever has been, okay? You have more chivalry and honour in your big toe than he does in his entire body." She wiped the tears from his cheeks, smiling sadly.

"But what if he's not wrong? What if, when I become king, I ruin everything?" Lucas cried, sniffling. "And I'm hardly ready to marry anyone nevermind her."

"Maybe if you tell mother—"

Lucas cut her off and shoved her away. "No! I'm never going to be satisfied with my spouse and you know it," Lucas snapped, "I'll never be happy enough with who I marry and our parents won't ever care." Manon started to reply, but Lucas was already marching out of the hallway, heels clicking on the stone floor.

"Lucas, where are you going?" Manon called after him, hands on her hips and worried frown on her face.

"Out! Anywhere is better than here!" he called over his shoulder, storming down a flight of stairs. He heard Manon's heels following him down the stairs frantically, hair flowing behind her and skirt bunched into her fists. "You're not stopping me, Manon."

"Come on, Lucas. Don't do this. You can't just leave the castle."

Lucas stopped and spun around, fresh tears in his eyes, making Manon blur in his vision. "I'm just going for a walk, okay? I'll be back later." And before Manon could protest further, Lucas spun back around and stormed out the front doors once again.

♤

It was sunset by the time Lucas reached the middle of the city. He was mostly calm now, walking through the winding streets. The evening air was cool against his skin, having neglected wearing a coat, which left him in his simple white button down. All the market stalls were shut for the night as well, only a few shops and restaurants still open. The streets were almost deserted and Lucas only passed a handful of people, thankfully. He was considering turning back, shivering with cold, when he stumbled upon a small florists still open, warm light flooding onto the dim street.

Lucas pulled his sleeves over his hands and stepped inside the shop. He was instantly overwhelmed by the strong floral scent filling the air, along with the pleasant heat coming from a small fireplace in the corner. Lucas glanced around the entire store, brushing his fingers over the soft petals and leaves, occasionally leaning down to smell one.

"Hello," a voice said in his ear. Lucas lept to the side, whipping his head up, eyes wide. He found himself barely an inch away from the same florist from the market stall pess than a month ago.

"Fuck, you scared me!" Lucas exclaimed, clutching his chest.

The man chuckled, eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to!" he replied, still laughing, "I was just coming to see if my customer needed anything. Looks like I found my favourite one."

Lucas flushed, distracting himself by fidgeting with the stem of a gloxinia.

"It's been a while. I was starting to think you were a dream," the man continued, "Or at least that you weren't coming back." The man was standing so close to Lucas he could feel his breath on the side of his face and neck. It sent a chill down his spine.

"Yeah, I've been, uh, busy," Lucas replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "And I live just outside of the city, so it's hard to come here often, I guess."

"What a shame," the man said. "Where's your companion from last time? The magnolia girl."

Lucas snorted at the memory. "She's back home. I came here myself."

The man nodded and clapped his hands together once. "Right. Well, can I do anything for you today?" he asked, stepping away finally to gesture towards the flowers surrounding them. "I'm Eliott, by the way. I don't believe I introduced myself last time. Silly me." He held out his hand in front of Lucas.

Lucas shook his hand, lingering for far too long to be considered normal. "Lu—Louis."

Eliott smirked, a knowing glint in his eye. He's onto me. "Well, Louis, what can I do for you? Another arrangement for a special someone?" Eliott asked with a teasing lilt to his voice. He gestured around the shop again. "I can do loads of different bouquets for all occasions."

Lucas stepped past Eliott further into the shop, looking around the room at the seemingly endless array of flowers filling the room. They were set in baskets and vases and paper bags on the wall, overlapping endlessly in a rainbow of petals and leaves and ribbons. Lucas made his way all the way to the back of the shop where he found a bunch of parchment stuck to the wall, adorned with what looked like pressed azaleas and peonies.

"They're my favourite flowers," Eliott said, appearing by Lucas' side, "They symbolise my soul. Like spirit flowers or something."

Lucas walked ever closer to the wall, lightly touching one of the azalea petals. "So like floriography?" Lucas asked casually, glancing sideways at Eliott. Eliott's smile softened, looking down at Lucas through his lashes.

He nodded. "Yeah. Exactly like that."

"So." Lucas turned his entire body towards Eliott, who mirrored him. "What flowers am I? What's my soul flower?" Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly, suggestively.

A sharp intake of breath. A grin. A pause. Eliott looked Lucas up and down thoughtfully, tilting his head to the side. The silence in the air hung heavy and charged, but no less comfortable. "I don't know. I'll think about it," Eliott said after a moment. "Maybe come back and I'll have one in mind."

"Okay then…" Lucas turned around, circling the store once again. "Will you make me an arrangement at least? Any that you like. Any occasion you can think of," he said, walking backwards, grinning. Eliott followed him, eyes full of mirth.

"Now that I can do." And then Eliott was hurrying around the small shop, knocking down baskets and grabbing flowers here and there seemingly haphazardly. Lucas hopped up onto the cash desk, swinging his legs back and forth as he watched Eliott hurtling around the room collecting the flowers for the bouquet. It was the most fun Lucas had had in weeks, watching Eliott stumble and scatter around, a man on a mission, barely pausing for breath.

After five minutes, Eliott came over to the table with a bundle of flowers, laying them down and searching through the stack of ribbons. He pulled out a baby blue one and went to work arranging the flower assortment into the way he liked. Lucas watched with interest, giggling when Eliott dropped flowers or struggled over tying the neat bow to perfection. Finally, after making sure the bouquet was satisfactory, Eliott presented the bouquet with a flick of the wrist, holding it up for Lucas to take.

Lucas gasped as he looked over the arrangement. It was made with gloxinias, yellow tulips, white carnations and a few sprigs of heathers, all bunched together perfectly tied with the baby blue ribbon. Love at first sight, loveliness, admiration, Lucas thought to himself. The mixture of flowers smelled divine. Lucas glanced back up at Eliott, cheeks burning, and smiled flirtatiously. Eliott watched Lucas inspecting the floral arrangement, smirking, eyes glinting hopefully. Lucas took another whiff of the bouquet, eyes closing with contentment.

He looked back at Eliott and raised his eyebrows. "This is quite the selection of flowers you chose," Lucas said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Well I thought they would suit you, now," Eliott replied simply, "I'm glad you like it." He stepped forwards, closing the majority of the gap between them. He was only a few inches away, warm breath hitting Lucas' face with mint and coffee. Lucas sucked in a breath, eyes wide as he peered up at the taller man with awe and something he thought was attraction. Lucas could have sworn he saw a similar look in Eliott's bright eyes that stared straight into his soul.

"How much is the bouquet?" Lucas asked, taking a step back and clearing his throat.

Eliott blinked, stepping back as well, face falling briefly before returning to a polite smile. Lucas' heart fell with it. "You can have it for free," Eliott said, "Take it as a gift from me."

"Are you sure? I assure you I can afford it—"

Eliott nodded. "I insist. Your sweetheart must get gifts like these often. Perhaps you should get something for a change." Eliott pushed the bouquet closer to Lucas' chest, still forcing a polite smile. Lucas caught Eliott's wrist, staring at him.

"Thank you, Eliott."

Eliott gulped. He glanced at Lucas' grasp on his wrist and back at Lucas, eyes wide. "I'm serious. No one's ever done something like this for me. So, thank you," Lucas repeated, deadly serious. His heart was racing with the intensity in the air between them, eyes burning from staring at Eliott so long.

"Well, I'm glad I can be the one to do it for you," Eliott replied, finally breaking their eye contact, glancing at the bouquet. "You deserve—"

"Eliott? Are you ready to go?"

Lucas ripped his hand off of Eliott's wrist, jumping back and nearly tossing his flowers behind him. Both men turned towards the door to the shop where a young woman was standing looking at them curiously. She glanced at Lucas and he turned away, avoiding her eyes.

Eliott peered at Lucas and back at the woman. He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck. "Lucille. I apologise, but I was just speaking with this customer and, er, got a bit distracted," Eliott replied, moving towards the back of the shop and disappearing behind the desk. Lucas watched the exchange with his heart at his knees, face scarlet.

Lucas took a deep breath, straightening his trousers and pushing past the woman–Lucille and into the street. "Thanks for the flowers, sir," he said over his shoulder, ignoring the woman and looking at Eliott behind her. "The recipient will love them, I'm sure," he added cryptically, smiling politely. Lucas turned fully away and began his trek back down the street, sighing.

"I'll see you again soon, sir." Lucas stopped walking. He turned back around and found Eliott standing outside of the shop, hands in his pockets. Lucille was unlocking the door to the shop, back turned to them. "Please." Lucille finished, turning to face Eliott and Lucas.

Lucas nodded stiffly, gesturing with the flowers. "If you can find my soul flower, I'll certainly be back for more of these arrangements," he replied. Before Eliott even had the chance to react or reply, Lucas was already hurrying away down the street. He looked down at the bouquet once again and couldn't help but smile despite the discomfort caused by the girl interrupting them.

Maybe he would be coming back to the city more often.

[rafaelina-casillas]

Flower Asks

@december-girl06 Thank you so much for asking me! *sending a bear hug*

Alisons: Sexuality? - Heterosexual.

Amaranth: Pronouns/Gender? - Sher/Her. Female

Amaryllis: Birthday? - 29th august

Anemone: Favorite flower? - Cala lily and white rose.

Angelonia: Favorite t.v. show? - BBC Sherlock, Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver, Hannibal

Arum-Lily: What’s the farthest you’d go for a stranger? - I don’t trust people so pointing the right direction 😁

Aster: What’s one of your favorite quotes?

Aubrieta: Favorite drink? - Coke, sparkling water.

Baby’s Breath: Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? - Umm, I’ve probably kissed Mom so yes.

Balsam Fir: Have you ever been in love? - I had crushes but nothing more than that.

Baneberries: Favorite song? - The Point of No Return from The Phantom of The Opera

Basket of Gold: Describe your family. - Pretty ordinary with the occasional dosage of drama.

Beebalm: Do you have a best friend? Who is it? - That’s classified.

Begonia: Favorite color? - Black.

Bellflower: Favorite animal? - Wolves.

Bergenia: Are you a morning or night person? - Definetly a morning person.

Black-Eyed Susan: If you could be any animal for a day, what would it be? - A raven so I would what flying feels like.

Bloodroots: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? - (That’s embarrasing) Michael Schumacher or Batman or an astronaut. 

Bluemink: What are your thoughts on children? - Little monsters, I don’t like them.

Blazing Stars: What are you afraid of? Is there a reason why? - I’m afraid of snakes. Just look at them! Do I need a reason? 

Borage: Give a random fact about your childhood. - I made plans with best friend to run away from my parents. He was suppossed to get a job as a cooker. And, yes, we were 10 years old then.

Bugleherb: How would you spend your last day on Earth?   - Reading, I guess.

Buttercup: Relationship Status? - Forever single.

Camelia: If you could visit anywhere, where would you want to go? - Hogwarts or the set of Hawaii Five-0

Candytufts: When do you feel most loved? - When people show me that they trust me.

Canna: Do you have any tattoos?   - No, I don’t like tattoos.

Canterbury Bells: Do you have any piercings?   - No, I don’t like piercing either.

California Poppy: Height?   - 158 cm or 5′2

Cardinal Flower: Do you believe in ghosts? - That’s complicated. Let’s say I can’t simply ignore all the stories about people seeing ghosts.

Carnation: What are you currently wearing?   - My home clothes: a track suit.

Catnip: Have you ever slept with a nightlight? - I can’t remember for sure but I don’t think I have.

Chives: Who was the last person you hugged?   - Mom.

Chrysanthemum: Who’s the last person you kissed? - Mom.

Cock’s Comb: Favorite font? - All the academia made me like Times New Roman. I also like Gothic fonts.

Columbine: Are you tired? - Yes.

Common Boneset: What are you looking forward to? - The next semester.

Coneflower: Dream job? - University professor, editor and writer.

Crane’s-Bill: Introvert or extrovert? - MAJOR introvert.

Crocus: Have you ever been in love? - Nope.

Crown Imperial: What’s the farthest you would go for someone you care about? - Protecting them at all costs.  

Cyclamen: Did you have a favorite stuffed animal as a child? What was it? - I still have that animal! A small pink monkey, I love it too much.

Daffodil: What’s your zodiac sign? - Virgo.

Dahlia: Have you done anything worth remembering? - I don’t think I’ve done something that special.

Daisy: What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment? - Getting a place in a PhD programme.

Daylily: What would you do if your parents didn’t like your partner(s)?   - I’ll answer this when (if) I have a partner because I honestly don’t know how to answer this.

Dendrobium: Who is the last person that you said “I love you” to? - Don’t know.

False Goat’s Beard: What is something you are good at? - Trapping over my own feet 😁😄 

Foxgloves: What’s something you’re bad at? - Singing, drawing.

Freesia: What are three good things that have happened in the past month? - Getting the news about my lecturing, seeing Venom and Bohemian Rhapsody, starting learning basic linguistics.

Garden Cosmos: How was your day today? - It’s 11 in the morning!

Gardenia: Are you happy with where you’re at in your life? - Not so much.

Gladiolus: What is something you hope to do in the next year or two? - Writing the first two chapters of my PhD thesis and feeling more confident in academia.

Glory-of-the-Snow: What are ten things that make you happy/you’re grateful to have in your life? - Mom Friends My supervisor Books Movies TV Shows The pigeons on my balcony Music ... I can’t think of more

Heliotropium: What helps you calm down when you feel stressed? - Reading. 

Hellebore: How do you show affection? - I’m very clumsy at this. Taking extra care. Telling stupid jokes.

Hoary Stock: What are you proudest of? - Winning my supervisor’s trust.

Hollyhock: Describe your ideal day. - Meeting with friends, going to the cinema, reading.

Hyacinth: What do you like to do in your free time?   - Reading or watching a movie/a TV show.

Hydrangea: How long have you known your best friend? How did you meet them? - I met her 15 years ago when she was transfered to my class in 5th grade.

Irises: Who can you talk to about (almost) everything? - Mom and my friends.

Laceleaf: How many friends do you have? - Few but I love them very much.

Lantanas: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received? - That people liked my writing.

Larkspur: What do you think of yourself? - *censoring self hate* Not much actually. I know I could do better.

Lavender: What’s your favorite thing about yourself? - My kindness and intelligence (if such a thing exists).

Leather Flower: What’s your least favorite thing about yourself?   - My looks.

Lilac: What’s something you liked to do as a child? - Colouring books!

Lily: Who was your best friend when you were a kid? - A boy with whom I’m still friends though we are not that close.

Lily of the Incas: What is something you still feel guilty for? - That I never got the courage to talk to my biggest crush at high school.

Lily of the Nile: What is something you feel guilty for that you shouldn’t feel guilty about?   - Being rude to toxic friends.

Lupine: What does your name mean? Why is that your name? - It comes from the word for flower in Bulgarian. I was named after one of my grandmothers.

Marigold: Where did you grow up? Tell us about it. - I grow up in the same city I’m still living - Sofia.

Morning Glory: What was your bedroom like growing up? - Full with stuffed toys.

Mugworts: What was it like for you as a teenager? Did you enjoy your teenage years?   - Not at all. I don’t like my teenage self, I cared too much about people’s opinion.

Norwegian Angelica: Tell us about your mom. - She’s the greatest person inhabiting this world, my best friend. I love her sooo much!

Onions: Tell about your dad.   - A normal person.

Orchid: Tell about your grandparents. - I only know one of my grandmothers, unfortunately. But she was great when I was a kid, now she’s too old to have normal relationship with her.

Pansy: What was your most memorable birthday? What made it be so memorable? - Going to the cinema with all my school friends on my 15th birthday. Before the group feel apart.

Peony: What was your first job? - I was an intern at the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs

Petunia: If you’re in a relationship, how did you meet your partner(s)? If you’re not in a relationship, how did you meet your crush/how do you hope to meet your future partner(s), if you want any? - I want to meet him suddenly, just starting to talk about different things.

Pincushion: How do you deal with pain? - I try to distract my mind.

Pink: Where is home? - Where the heart is.

Plantain Lilies: If you could go back in time, what is one thing you would stop/change? - World War II

Prairie Gentian: Who is someone you look up to? Describe them. - Scientists like Alan Turing, Albert Einstein. Shakesperare, too.

Primrose: Describe your ideal life. - Having a stable partner whom I love and who loves me and who doesn’t want children. Being a professor with major works in her field who travels the world to read lectures.

Rhodendron: What is something you used to believe in as a child? - The kindness of people.

Ricinus: Who’s the most important in your life? - Mom.

Rose: What’s your favorite sound? - The atmosphere of a library. Quietude with the occassional hushed talks.

Rosemallows: What’s your favorite memory? - Every time when I’m with my best friend.

Sage: What’s your least favorite memory? - Visiting the Museum of Natural History and and all the snakes surrounding me.

Snapdragon: At this moment, what do you want?   - To finish my PhD successfully

St. John’s Wort: Is it easy or difficult for you to express how you feel about things? - Rather difficult.

Sunflower: What is something you don’t want to imagine life without? - My favourite people.

Sweet Pea: How much sleep did you get last night? - 7 or 8 hours.

Tickseed: What’s your main reason to get up every morning? - Achieving my goals.

Touch-Me-Not: How do you feel about your current job? - I don’t have a job.

Transvaal Daisy: What’s your favorite item of clothing? - T-shirts.

Tropical White Morning Glory: Describe your aesthetic. - Books, autumn, quietude, stationary, dim light. 

Tulip: What would be the best present to get you? - A rare book.

Vervain: What’s stressing you out most right now? - The upcoming conference at which I had to make a presentation about a report I’ve written.

Wisteria: How many books have you read in the past few months? What were they called? - Too many, I can’t count them. But there are two kinds: 1) Literature that I enjoy and read for pleasure (I’ve read mostly Joanne Harris books during this time); 2) Literature for my thesis which includes many books on psychoanlysis, feminist thought and linguistics.

Wolf’s Bane: Where do you want to be in life this time next year? - Having a job and a confident lecturer.

Yarrow: Do you know what vore is? - No, I don’t.

Zinnia: Give a random fact about yourself. - I hate to be the center of attention. 

[arizonatotoronto]

Kitty has too much time on her hands and Mitch tells her so when she picks Mitch up to meet their friends for sushi. Kitty just hugs her, asking how she’s doing after ten days on the road with Auston. Kitty knows about the time Auston carried her bag, their conversations in hotel bars, and how sometimes, seemingly at random, he’d sit behind her on the plane after she and Babcock had debriefed. Mitch is glad to be home; she feels off-balance (1/7)

and needs the non-hockey parts of her life to get back on firm footing. The pictures are so beautiful and yet so dangerous. They show a man confident in his own skin and how he moves through the world. They make promises; promises that are best fulfilled in the dark and leave a woman shaking and gasping. She can’t stop thinking about the stupid pictures. She thinks about them as she and Elizabeth have a stare-down over the last piece of sushi and when she herds a sleepy intern Cassidy (2/6)

onto the bus at 6am for the drive to Montreal, Cass’s first road game. She’s thinking about them as she and Auston re-adjust to short conversations, her desk between them. It feels wrong, this doesn’t fit them anymore, but it’s what’s allowed. She’s still thinking about them when, several weeks later, her MLSE email pings and she sees Gran D’s birthday request for Auston’s autograph. This year feels special because the team has a rare back-to-back at home the weekend of Gran D’s (3/6)

birthday; Kyle has given permission for her and Gran D to sit in the box for both games and Mitch ordered a lemon cake from Bobbette and Belle. The autograph is for Gran D, so Mitch will ask for the favor, but she isn’t going to do it face-to-face. She throws it in a email to Auston with the footage Babcock wanted him to review, adding that she’ll be out of the office that weekend but if he could slide something under her office door, she’ll see that her grandmother gets it. She puts (4/6)

the whole ordeal out of her head and is startled when the front office calls; she has a delivery. It’s a large bouquet of flowers. Cheerful sunflowers share space with exotic peonies and heavy-headed tulips, while dark lilies shy away from attention. The brightly-colored arrangement makes Mitch smile. It’s December 1st, her anniversary with the Leafs, and winter has settled in for the long haul; she misses the sun. (5/6)

The card reads “Happy Anniversary, Dolly! You make me proud everyday. I love you. Gran D.” The size of the sunflowers make carrying the vase tricky, so Mitch waves to the front office staff and backs out into the hallway blind. “Good date? I thought red roses were the traditional choice.” It’s Auston. (6/6)

–

Auston is attempting his honest-to-goodness best impersonation of himself when he is calm, collected, and in control.

He thinks he is failing spectacularly.

It’s just that, Mitch has this huge armful of flowers and she looks absolutely radiant, even next to so many perfect, colourful petals. She’s smiling happily, and she’s wearing this tight white blouse that she’s tucked into a pair high-waisted, royal blue dress pants that make her look long and leggy despite standing almost a foot shorter than Auston without the heels (which, today, are white to match her top, Auston figures. The entire ensemble looks new. And it must be, because Auston is pretty sure he’d remember these pants).

And she’s just… she’s holding these goddamn *flowers* like a prized possession, sent to her workplace by someone clearly wanting to make a statement, and a public one, at that.

The sight of it makes Auston’s chest clench, because he’s wondered for a while if she’s the kind of girl who likes flowers, and who she’d like receiving them from. He doesn’t think sunflowers are particularly romantic, but Mitch looks fairly delighted by them, so what does Auston know, anyway?

“Oh,” Mitch says, and she startles at the sound of his voice. The giant bouquet wobbles just a little in her hold, and Auston reaches out with both hands to steady her, operating on pure instinct. “Whoops,” she laughs, a little breathlessly, but the flowers stop wobbling and she’s stepping safely away from him - just enough that she can look into his face without craning her neck too far back.

All Auston wants to do is get his hands back on her waist.

It takes a second or two for Auston’s careful question to register with Mitch, but then she’s flushing pink as she takes a breath and stumbles through a hurried explanation that no, there’d been no date, no date at all, she isn’t *dating*.

“No, no these are– they’re from my grandmother, I–”

(Auston tries valiantly to ignore the relief that begins to unwind the heavy knot in his stomach.)

“Oh,” he says, mollified, but then a thought occurs to him that has his insides twisting uncomfortably all over again: “Wait, it’s not your birthday, is it?”

“No,” Mitch says again, her mouth quirking up at one corner with thinly veiled amusement. “It’s kind of silly, actually, but um. Today is my… my work anniversary? With MLSE?”

The inflection in her voice makes it sound like a question, and Auston rushes to reassure her that it’s not silly at all. It’s sweet. Her grandmother is sweet.

“Happy anniversary,” he says sincerely. “Do you, uh. Do you need any help getting those back to your office?”

Auston used to feel even weirder than this about offering her help that she hasn’t implicitly asked for, but he figures they’re sort of passed that kind of thing by now. Sure enough, she declines politely, but she isn’t offended by the offer like she might’ve been just weeks ago. Auston takes the rejection with grace, relieved just to have made this simple headway in what he is beginning to refer to as a friendship - even if only to himself.

He walks with her back to her office, anyway, because he’d actually left a coffee there for her when he’d seen her door open but had been unable to find her anywhere nearby.

“That’s– thank you,” Mitch says, from behind the massive arrangement still held protectively in her arms.

Auston has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his grin from getting too big as he tells her not to worry about it.

(The flowers look comically big on Mitch’s desk, taking up an absurd amount of space in one corner. The look of them has Mitch beaming.

She hesitates for a moment before asking Auston if he’d like to sit for just a little while, just while she finishes her drink. Auston has a few places he needs to be, but he would be a fool not to accept. He agrees readily.

So they sit, separated by her desk with the door wide open (safe, safe, safe, now that they’re back in Toronto) and make smalltalk while Mitch sips at her beloved caffeine.

Auston learns a little about Cassidy, Mitch’s favourite intern, and all of the ways she’s beginning to make Mitch’s job just that little bit easier.

He learns about the interview Mitch has agreed to give The Athletic later this month, which will focus on Mitch’s committment to making important NHL jobs more accessible to women. She’s really excited to have been asked to contribute.

Auston even finally learns that the yellow mug she’s always carrying around the arena had been another gift from her grandmother, someone who is clearly very important to Mitch - and whose birthday is coming up.

Mitch has asked for a signed picture, something simple, but Auston knows he can do better. He sources a lightly-worn team issued jersey and writes a message, as well as his signature, on the back.

And if, when he leaves that autographed jersey in Mitch’s mailbox later on that week, he includes a small bouquet of tiny roses, well. She can always give them to her grandmother with the sweater if she doesn’t like them.)

[bugheadfamily]

Bughead Family Discord Member Spotlight

This week the spotlight is on Mari ( @writeraquamarinara )! Click the read more link below to get to know our member!

Spotlight by Mila, @jughead-jones | Graphic by Katie, @betty-cooper

Mari | @writeraquamarinara

Name: Mari

Age: 18

Location: Montreal, QC.

Any other languages aside from English people can contact you in?: Italian.

Favourite Riverdale characters and ships?: Betty, Jughead, Pop, Fred, Mary, Kevin, Joaquin, Bughead, Joavin, and Choni.

Favourite moments from S1 & S2?: The scene that got me hooked to the show was when Reggie questioned Jughead about killing Jason, and he replied with a snarky little “It’s called necrophilia, Reggie. Can you spell it?” Other favorite moments are pretty much any Bughead scene from S1, but especially their first kiss. I had been shipping them together since the Blue and Gold scene in 1x03, but 1x06 really hit me hard. They’re both two broken kids who find solace in each other. As someone whose mother is all too similar to Alice Cooper, hearing Jughead tell Betty that they aren’t their parents made me so emotional. I rewatched that scene on repeat when the clip came out on Youtube the next day. To this day I can’t listen to Emily Afton’s Lost without crying. I also really love the hug from 1x13 after Betty, Veronica, and Archie go to Southside High for Juggie. S2 favorite moments are also only Bughead scenes, but not all Bughead scenes, if you catch my drift.

What are your hopes for S3?: Are a coherent plotline and consistent characterization too much to ask for? Also maybe have the parents on the show (other than Archie’s) actually respect their children and treat them well, but that’s never going to happen. On a more realistic note, I’m hoping to watch some fun interactions between Josie and Kevin now that they’re going to be step-siblings.

Other fandoms you’re into?: I don’t really have an online presence in other fandoms, but I do love to geek out over Percy Jackson, That 70s Show (specifically JackiexHyde), The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and nearly all of the Marvel movies.

What are some of your favourite movies/TV?: As I mentioned: That 70s Show, The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Marvel. I’m currently bingeing The Good Place and The Mindy Project. I also went to watch Crazy Rich Asians in theaters and loved it. So basically I’m trash for rom and com. Sue me. (Or don’t. I’m a broke college student who can’t afford that ish.)

Favourite books?: The Book Thief, The Color Purple, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, Pride and Prejudice, and, most of all, The Glass Castle.

Favourite bands/musicians?: Nina Simone, Alicia Keys, ABBA, Of Monsters and Men, Christina Perri, and Imagine Dragons. 

If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?: I thought a lot about this question. The obvious answer would be “one with magic, or mermaids, or superheroes”. But then I thought that I’d rather live in a world like ours, more realistic, but where women are equal to men, diversity is celebrated, people accept each other for who they are. That’s a very idealistic world, I realize, and (if my preteen love of dystopian novels has taught me anything) one that’s most definitely unattainable, but it’s still nice to think about it. If anyone knows of a fictional world like that, sign me up.

Favourite food?: Gosh, that’s a hard one. Probably my grandma’s lasagna.

Favourite season?: Fall, definitely. It’s my birthday season, and I love the colorful leaves and breezy weather and going apple-picking with my family and friends. Unfortunately, Canada’s fall doesn’t last much more than a day, so I missed out on all that this year.

Favourite plant?: Nelumbo nucifera, aka the Lotus Flower.

Favourite scent?: Aftershave? Weird, I know, but it reminds me of my childhood and my father.

Favourite colour?: Periwinkle.

Favourite animal?: Hummingbird.

Are you a night owl, an early bird, or a vampire?: Night owl, definitely.

Place you want to visit?: The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan in Iran, and Ryoanji in Japan.

Do you have pets? If you do, tell us a little about them: I don’t have any pets that live with me currently, but I’ve got a pet back home with my parents. She’s a rescued pup from Mississippi, probably some kind of mix between a Pointer and a Labrador Retriever. Her name’s Sassy and she’s super energetic. If you had asked me this question a week ago I would’ve also said I had a cat named Puma but he was twelve and had cancer, so…yeah.

Tell us a little about yourself?: Um, I never really know what to say to that question. Like, what do you really want to know? I’m Mari (the name comes from my AO3/tumblr username, and not my real name). I was born in New Jersey, grew up in New York and Italy, now go to university in Montreal. I’m super passionate about art history, women’s rights, and politics. I hope to be a dermatologist, but honestly, who knows where life will take me. I’m the oldest of four and the first in my family to go through the American school system, so my parents have always referred to me as their “guinea pig”, and that totally hasn’t given me a weird obsession with being the perfect child, perfect student, perfect daughter. For some very obvious reasons, I relate way too much to Betty Cooper.

Fun or weird fact about you?: I fenced competitively for eight years of my life, traveling all around the US and to Europe for training and national competitions, including the Junior Olympics.

Asks for fanfic authors:

How long have you been writing?: I’ve been writing since I was little, but they were always stories with original characters. I didn’t start writing fic until I was sixteen, nearly seventeen, so it’s been a little over a year.

Which is your favourite of the fics you’ve written?: Geez, that’s a tough one. As much as I love my little one shots, I’d have to say Little Talks. It’s largely based on my own high school experience, and therefore my own way of coming to terms with the end of that chapter of my life.

Favourite fic/chapter/plot-point/character you’ve ever written?: Oof. Another tough one. Um, I’d have to say that I really love my characterization of Alice in Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. She’s a villainess, but hopefully one you love to hate.

Which was the hardest to write, and why?: Again, Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. I have a bit of a plot twist planned for the story, but I’m really not sure what kind of reception it’s going to get from readers, so I’ve had the chapter half-finished for months. I just need to get the motivation to finish it, and the courage to say “I don’t care if people hate this, or think it’s weird.” I’ll get there eventually.

How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? (examples: Do you draw inspiration from real life? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?) Do you have an process to your writing?: I’ve answered this in a tumblr ask before, but I get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Mainly from real life, because I like to observe and speculate and ask a bunch of “what if”s and go from there. So, like I mentioned, Little Talks is largely based on my life. But there are definitely some plot points in the story that are a result of me going “well, what if I had done this? Or he had done that?” Another example of a real life-inspired fic is my oneshot I <3 You, which was inspired by that instastory (Cole or Lili’s? I can’t remember) of a cake with bright orange frosting that spelled out I <3 You. I also take inspiration from other creative works, such as books or movies. One of my many upcoming fics is based on How To Train Your Dragon, and another is a crackfic based on the Suite Life. Other times, fic ideas come to me out of nowhere. I was in the lab last summer, waiting for my breast cancer tumor slides to go through antigen retrieval, when I came up with the idea for Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. My brain works in very strange ways.

Idea that you always wanted to write?: I’ve always wanted to write a lot of fics (I have a whole list of them), but they’re in the works so I won’t spoil any more than I already have. The main fic that I don’t even have an idea for but just want to write is a heartbreakingly angsty fic. One that makes me cry while I write it. Here’s hoping it comes to me soon, because I feel like that could be a really interesting experience as a writer.

Favourite character to write?: Alice. Which is strange, because I don’t like her in the show, but there are so many different directions you could take her character that she’s always so interesting to me.

Best comment/review you’ve ever received?: Oh, well, all of them? Is that an answer? Because all comments and reviews make me super happy. But if I had to choose one then I’d say any comment from @earthlaughsinflowers, @mothermaple, @dottie-wan-kenobi, or @notanotherotherone. I kind of cheated by not picking one, exactly, but oh well.

Best and worst parts of being a writer?: The best part of being a writer is putting a story that you put a lot of your soul into and getting support and love for it. Because I only put stories out there that I’m happy to write, happy to read, but to see that they make other people happy, too? That’s an amazing feeling. The worst part is the amount of time it takes to do absolutely anything, especially when you’re not in the right headspace to write. When I’ve had the worst week ever, and I have to physically push myself to spend time that should be spent resting to write because an update needs to come out soon, it goes from being a fun hobby to being a stress-inducing chore.

Do you have any advice to offer?: I haven’t been a fic writer for a long time, so I wouldn’t say that I’m going to offer up the wisest advice, but here’s what I’ve garnered so far: Do what makes you happy. That goes for all of life, not just writing, and is often hard to follow, but here’s how I see it: If you want to write a story because it makes you happy, write it. If you want to quit your WIP to start something else because that makes you happy, do it. If you need to take a break from writing altogether because it’ll make you happier, take it. Write what you want to write, at the pace you want to write it, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

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This is the twelfth instalment of Bughead Family’s Member Spotlight series. Each week, a member’s url is selected through a randomizer and they will be featured in a spotlight post. In order to participate, please join the Bughead Discord (more information found here). Thank you.

[bbcbreakingnews]

Elton John’s favourite florist designed show-stopping floral arch at Princess Beatrice’s wedding 

This may have been the most low-key wedding in recent history. But one element was utterly, gloriously over the top — and that was the flowers.

Designed by flamboyant Dutch maestro Rob Van Helden — Elton John’s favourite florist — the floral arch covering the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor was showstopping.

The display was made of hundreds of tumbling peach, pink and ivory roses, the palest pink hydrangeas, trailing jasmine and even playful, fluffy, pink astilbe, plus foliage collected from Windsor Great Park.

Designed by flamboyant Dutch maestro Rob Van Helden the floral arch covering the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor was showstopping

Rob Van Helden started with a flower stall on the Fulham Road but is now the number one choice of the showbiz set

Van Helden wrote on Instagram: ‘Thank you so much for giving us the honour and privilege of being part of your special day.’ 

He was, perhaps, well placed for the top-secret job of the year: he’d previously decorated St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for Beatrice’s sister Eugenie’s October 2018 wedding, opting then for seasonal berries — plus sandbags and ropes to keep everything in place on a windy day.

Van Helden, 57, started with a flower stall on the Fulham Road but is now the number one choice of the showbiz set.

The secret of his success is a distinctive style. Arrangements are often simple and feature only one kind of flower, — but in jaw- dropping profusion. 

Van Helden previously decorated St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for Beatrice’s sister Eugenie’s October 2018 wedding

He has said: ‘If I could sum up my aesthetic ethos in one simple sentence, it would be to go for volume.’

So who goes to him? Everyone. He’s done arrangements for parties thrown by the Beckhams and Elton John uses Van Helden for his charity events and did for both his civil partnership in 2005 and marriage in 2014.

Van Helden knows that Elton, who once famously blew £293,000 on flowers in less than two years, will not tolerate lilies, chrysanthemums or carnations.

He was behind the wonderful displays in Pippa Middleton’s £100,000 glass wedding marquee — he and Pippa are friends — and was in charge of flowers at the 70th birthday celebration at the Ritz for the late Princess Margaret. 

He’s done arrangements for parties thrown by the Beckhams and Elton John uses Van Helden for his charity events and did for both his civil partnership in 2005 and marriage in 2014. Pictured: Lulu and David Beckham at Elton John’s wedding

He has even decorated No.10 for a Christmas party thrown by Gordon Brown, arranged table decorations for Nelson Mandela and dressed the church for supermodel Claudia Schiffer’s wedding.

Singer Kylie Minogue is a friend, as is model Liz Hurley and actress Donna Air.

Van Helden’s sister, Patrice, is a partner in his business. She was responsible for Beatrice’s bouquet of trailing jasmine, pale pink and cream sweet peas, royal porcelain ivory spray roses, Pink O’hara garden roses, pink wax flower and baby pink astible, while her sibling concentrated on overseeing the spectacular arch display which took 12 hours to assemble.

As is tradition for royal brides, Beatrice’s bouquet included sprigs of myrtle, taken from a bush planted by Queen Victoria, at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight.

Van Helden told an interviewer: ‘As a floral designer, my job is to bring happiness to people. It is important to me that people say “Wow” as they enter the room.’

The post Elton John’s favourite florist designed show-stopping floral arch at Princess Beatrice’s wedding  appeared first on BBC BREAKING NEWS.

from WordPress https://bbcbreakingnews.com/elton-johns-favourite-florist-designed-show-stopping-floral-arch-at-princess-beatrices-wedding/

[scriptflorist]

Guest Post: Low-Effort/Depression Gardening

Originally written as a reply to this post, which featured an anonymous asker with an unmotivated character that likes to daydream… and has a garden. Mod Jana wasn’t sure if that combination would work, but I have experience in that area and I’m 100% sure that it can! (Terminology won’t be too accurate, sorry. I’m an amateur, and this kind of gardening is a lot less professional than florist-level stuff and mostly by feel.)

Hey everyone! Mod Jana here. This is our very first guest post that @acosmic​  was so kind to write and plenty helpful for anyone who wants to add a low maintenance to their story. Now don’t sell yourself short dear, you did really well. It’s an excellent post!

The key to low-effort gardening is having the right plants for your area (which I can’t cover) or having “generic” plants that grow well in most areas (which I’ll recommend to the best of my ability).

Your character will want perennials instead of annuals (differences explained here). If they’re starting a garden from scratch, they’re going to want to buy established plants from a greenhouse or garden centre, or get plants from people they know. It’s instantly gratifying and lower-maintenance than planting seeds.

Very good link. Easy to read and understand. A side note since tulips are mentioned: don’t water bulb plants till they’re almost in full bloom. The purpose of a bulb which is to store water, so for the first bloom the plant’s all good and then once a week should be fine. Take care to keep the bulb dry if it shows and water around it or from below if it’s potted. Also a lot of shrubs count as perennials.

The most strenuous part of gardening for your low-effort (or spoonie!) gardener will be planting things, which they can spread out over a few days. (A tip: growing plants around the edge of the yard is visually pleasing and means you don’t need to pull much grass up in order to put the plants in.) Get vegetable seeds put in early in the season, and the other things can go in whenever. Plant flowers/shrubs from back to front - tall plants one day, medium the next, and small the day after. Weed as you go.

The downside of a low-maintenance garden is that your character won’t be able to grow florist-quality blooms or special varieties. (Think large, fragrant roses - those are often picky and need lots of fertilizer, and you have to cut them off and re-bury them deeper in the winter. Fuck, no. Too much effort. We’ll leave that to florists’ suppliers!) Their garden is probably going to be a bit messy because they won’t put in the effort to have it be meticulous.

After everything is planted, your character will need to water once every couple of days with a sprinkler for 10-20 minutes, remove dead foliage, and weed in and around the plants. That’s all! No re-planting the next year if they’re perennials, either. Just water, weeding and waiting for things to come up.

I have to cut in here, because watering is at the end of the day very much dependable on the climate, weather, planting location and whether or not a plant is properly rooted. Generally your plan should work for most climates I think, this is just in case. There are a lot of factors your character wil sometimes have no influence on which can influence how much water it’ll need. As a rule of thumb: sun and wind dry the ground and shadowy places keep it wet.

Here are some fairly standard plants, all of which I’ve grown myself in a hot/dry climate. (Brief growing details past the basics are included.)

Indicator plants:

These are the ones that your gardener character will use to remember to water the other ones. They’ll wilt when they need water, and bounce right back after. Nice! (But they’re annuals.)

Basil. Grows nicely in pots. Smaller leaves taste better, and you need to pinch off the flowers or they’ll stop producing leaves. Good in pretty much everything savoury.

Strawberries. Pick when fully grown and just eat them off the fucking plant because you’re not going to have enough to bake anything, and they’re way smaller than commercially grown strawberries. (They can be bought in hanging baskets, so you don’t need to plant them OR weed them.)

Large flowers:

Lilies. Lily plants become larger by growing new bulbs that are connected to the previous bulbs in an underground system of tubers. Your demotivated character probably won’t want to split them (“splitting” refers to cutting the plants apart, usually to move them), and will end up with lilies in clumps like this after a couple of years of growth. Upright/tiger lilies, on the other hand, grow in single stalks, don’t make clumps, and don’t spread as much or as fast. Mod Jana says: Lilies are highly poisonous to cats. If your character has one I would recommend asking google which other plants are toxic for their favourite feline. It is not something we learn as florists and my understanding is that not every vet knows either.

Irises. Like lilies in terms of growth and care (they all clump without splitting). They’re all easy to grow, even the fancy-looking ones.

Hardy roses. Emphasis on “hardy”! They’ll have smaller blooms than the roses you’d buy from a florist, and won’t be as fragrant and symmetrical. Your character will probably want a bush-type rose rather than a climbing one because climbing roses need to be tied onto the thing they’re going to climb, which is a pain. Mod Jana says: This might be because I come from a very rose friendly climate, but to my understanding all roses are hardy. At least they should be in most of the warmer and temperate climates. Hardiness is a wanted quality, and there’s no reason to breed it out, so my guess is this is more of a climate situation here in most cases than someone breeding out their hardiness.

Peonies. Deceptively frilly, but very low-maintenance after they’re established. Without much water, they won’t take planting/transplanting well - they’ll wilt and won’t produce blooms. It’ll take a couple years for them to get comfortable. (Or, have your character use fertilizer and water them well. Learn from my mistakes.) Plunk a tomato cage around them early in the season, because otherwise, they’ll flop like this. Mod Jana says: Peonies are awfully pretty but take some maintenance as cut flowers. So your character should keep them on the shrub, just in case. But maybe the neighbour knows how to keep them alive?

Smaller flowers:

Clematis. They climb. Your character can literally just leave them on the ground if they’re not up to tying them to a trellis, and they’ll grow on the ground. They’ll have lighter, smaller blooms and only get a couple feet tall if they aren’t watered often, but they’re still cute. They flower all summer, even though they’re perennials!

Pansies/Johnny-jump-ups. They’re like cute little weeds, and often pop up literally wherever. Great for filler, and pansies are edible (if grown organically!).

Brown-eyed Susans/Shasta daisies. Tall, with strong stalks - and they expand massively and you’ll end up with a ton of them after a couple of years. Great for background - put them behind your irises/daisies and let them grow along the fence line.

Bluebells (Scottish). Tiny, but hardy. In a couple years one tiny clump can grow to fill the edge of a ~6-foot berm. Good for edges and growing in rocks.

Lilacs. Fancy bushes, with fragrant flowers in spring. It takes them a couple of years to get past fence-height, so they don’t need much pruning. Good in/along fences, to add privacy.

Other fruits/veg:

Raspberries/blackberries. Blackberries are seen as weeds in the PNW. Both are prickly, get gigantic off of rainwater and sun alone, and spread like crazy unless they’re controlled (easiest done with concrete pads to block their path). Raspberries will stop producing fruit if it’s not picked, so make sure your character eats them!

Rhubarb: Needs a year to get established, and then gets giant. Very edible - try pies or crisps.

Summer squash/zucchini: Plunk the seeds in the ground and let them go. They’ll get giant (think ~12-inch squash) if you let them grow for a couple of months, but they taste better if picked small. 

Mint: I’ve grown everything on this list except this one, but it’s like a weed and needs to be held back. It’s a small-sized bush.

Re: anon’s character, the brown-eyed Susans are nice to stare at while daydreaming, and putting in the effort to grow some fancy roses would be a pretty bomb way for her to confess to her neighbour! (wink). This is all realistic information, so you could totally skew it for your character’s flower power.

I hope this is an okay response. Sorry, it got so long!

- post by acosmic

Thank you very much, dear!

[imaginejamesandsirius]

Hi, I was wondering... could you write a fic in which Lily turns James down once again and maybe yells at him, and Sirius defends James because he honestly can't understand how one can not love him. And then James realizes it's always been Sirius (and maybe Lily was rejecting James because she knew Prongsfoot were meant to be)? I know it's cliché, but I'd like it :) and this is not meant to be Lily bashing or anything (I mean, I like her)... Thank you!

For all that she had said no repeatedly, it had never occurred to James that Lily was legitimately not interested. They would be perfect together, he was convinced. It was like the ideal love story! They meet at odds, get closer as they grow, top of the class, Head Boy and Girl, and eventually realise they are great together, marry young, and have lots of children. It was the type of story that dominated sickle romance books (ahem, not that James knew what those were like).

But when James tried to explain what he was thinking to her, she didn’t react favourably. Lily gaped at him. “Are you absolutely mental? Yes, I’ll admit, it makes a nice story, but we don’t get on. Even if we did, we wouldn’t be dating!”

“Why not?”

Lily made an impatient noise, threw her hands in the air, and stormed off.

James stared at her retreating figure, confused. She was acting like he was missing something big, but he didn’t know what. Maybe he should get her flowers; everyone liked flowers. Well, Sirius did, and he always smiled when James gave him some.

He didn’t end up getting her flowers, partially because it would be better to ask than accidentally get her a kind she hated or was allergic to, and partially because when he asked Sirius for help with Lily in the past, he got a look on his face that said he’d rather be anywhere but there. James hated that look, so he didn’t ask Sirius’s advice, though it undoubtedly would have been helpful.

Lily blinked at him. “You want to know my favourite flower,” she said flatly.

He nodded, thinking that maybe, for once, this conversation would go right.

She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest and giving him a look.

...Then again, maybe not.

“James-- and I mean this in the nicest way possible-- you’re an imbecile.”

“Do you not like flowers?”

“Why do you want to give me flowers?” she asked, not countering, just ignoring his question.

“I thought you might like them. Sirius likes flowers, says they make the room brighter.”

“So you thought I’d like flowers because Sirius-- your best mate-- likes them.”

“Yes?”

Lily shook her head. “Unbelievable,” she muttered. “I need to finish this essay for Professor McGonagall.”

“O...kay.” He walked away, feeling reprimanded, though he didn’t know what for.

Sirius was sympathetic as always when James returned looking glum. “It’s alright mate, she’ll come around.” He’d been saying that for months, but it still inexplicably made James feel better.

“If you say so. What’re you working on?”

Sirius grinned, launching into an explanation of his motorbike and the flying charms he was currently working on, which quite frankly went over James’s head. He’d started on that mechanic’s book Sirius lent him, but wasn’t far enough in it to understand the level Sirius was talking at. It was nice to see him so passionate, though, and he didn’t mind pausing to explain the more complex parts when James asked. James made a mental note to read the book faster on the off chance he’d be able to help by the time he was through. If nothing else, he’d understand more, and Sirius would get that pleased little smile.

~~~

“You want to know what?” Lily asked incredulously, though not offended, so at least he wasn’t regressing.

“Your favourite type of chocolate. Flowers and chocolates are what you get the person you fancy, but you didn’t answer for flowers.”

“What type of chocolates do you get Sirius?”

“Anything with caramel,” he said immediately. When Lily raised an eyebrow pointedly, he defended, “He loves caramel, but he refuses to buy it for himself always insisting that he likes dark chocolate. I’m not about to make him live without caramel chocolate just because he’s being a stubborn arse, can you imagine how sad he’d be?” James shook his head. “It would never be worth it.”

“Mmhmm.” Lily looked like James had just proved her point, but James, as per usual with her, was completely lost.

He left a few minutes later, feeling like he’d just lost a battle he hadn’t known he was fighting and still didn’t know the cause of. She’s certainly interesting, he thought as he made his way to the One-Eyed Witch statue. Sirius was about to run out of chocolate (his caramel stash, not the dark that he only touched when he was out of caramel and hated every bite of), so James figured he could get him some before he got back from Ancient Runes.

~~~

“C’mon Lily we would make a great couple.”

“We really, really wouldn’t,” she said, aggravated.

“I think that we would.” Granted it was for reasons he’d already told her, and she’d denied/ignored, but if she thought about it, she’d agree. Maybe. He was steadily losing faith in that assumption.

“No we wouldn’t! Not when one of us doesn’t care, and the other is clearly in love with their best friend even if he won’t admit it. For fuck’s sake, James ask out the person you actually fancy for once!”

“I- what are you talking about?”

“Sirius! Sirius Black, your best friend, the person you spend all your time with.”

“I don’t- I don’t fancy Sirius,” he stuttered out.

“James just the other day you told me that you get flowers and chocolates for the person you fancy. You give Sirius both.”

“We’re friends,” he protested.

“Oh really? Do you get Remus and Peter those things?”

“Of course not.”

“Why ‘of course not’?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. When he opened it again, he settled on, “Well, it’s just weird, that’s why. Why would I give them flowers?”

“Why would you give Sirius flowers?”

“He likes them!” James said defensively.

“And you like giving them,” Lily said simply. “You know what, James? I don’t like things like that, these romantic gestures. You know who it does sound like likes that? Consider that all of your suggestions are taken from what you know Sirius likes, so maybe you should be with someone you know, like, off the top of my head, Sirius.” James stared at her, dumbfounded. “Think about it.” With that, she pat him hard on the shoulder and walked away.

He walked back to Gryffindor Tower in a haze, snippets of memories from his time with Sirius flashing through his head. Sirius always- Merlin- he would light up when James gave him a gift, smile so wide, and thank him. Even when he was sad, he would smile at James like he didn’t need anyone else.

Oh gods. One day, all the Marauders were feeling silly, wanted harmless fun with each other in the rare, shining sun. Peter collected hundreds of daisies somehow, and they all played. Remus and Peter did some muggle pastime of linking them to make daisy chains while Sirius and James tickled each other’s noses, seeing how long they could last before they broke (they scarcely went past a few seconds so the game didn’t go on very long). When the two of them were done, James sat on his knees behind Sirius, and started braiding daisies in his hair. It wasn’t a disaster because it was far from the first time James had done this, and he was glad. The neat braids made Sirius look like a god, the white petals shining against his black hair, all of it highlighted in yellow. James took a picture with Sirius’s muggle camera, and it was easily his favourite photograph. He’d caught Sirius with his head tilted back to look at James, but his eyes were closed from the sun, and his nose was scrunched up in a full-body laugh at some quip James had made (he remembered it was specifically to try and get that expression). Peter and Remus had even done the ‘loves me-loves me not’ game to them and James had just rolled his eyes and said of course he loved Sirius, don’t be ridiculous.

But now it was like he’d looked around and realised that, yes, the walls of Hogwarts were made of stone. It wasn’t a realisation necessarily, but he hadn’t thought of it before no matter how obvious it was to everyone else, including the wall.

He was in love with Sirius.

He’d been in love with Sirius for years, had been acting on it, and never fucking noticed it before. Well now he was noticing, and he didn’t want to spend another buggering second without having talked to Sirius about it.

Sirius was in the decently filled common room, sitting in the armchair he and James had transfigured and stuck to the ground in third year, a book Flitwick had given him on professional charms in his lap as he read. No one was nearby, so he didn’t need to ask Sirius to another room to talk. James sat on the ground in front of him, leaning his cheek on Sirius’s knee when he moved the book for James. He immediately half-closed the book, setting it to the side as he looked down at James, grinning and carding his free hand through James’s hair.

“I love you,” James said.

“I know. I love you too.”

“No, that’s not--” James turned his face down, wincing when his glasses dug into his face. Impatiently, he pulled them off and put his head back where it was, looking at Sirius again. He was close enough that James could see him clearly without his glasses, and he adored moments like this. Something about having a filter between him and Sirius felt wrong. “I’m in love with you.”

Sirius wasn’t smiling anymore, instead frowning slightly in confusion. “I know.”

“You know?” he said, taken aback, no longer resting his head on Sirius.

“You aren’t exactly subtle, mate,” he said with an uneasy half-smile.

“You’re in love with me too.” He was thinking and saying it for the first time yet knew intrinsically that it was true.

“Well,” Sirius shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah. I dunno why you’re bringing it up all of a sudden. When you started pursuing Lily, I thought we had an unspoken agreement to ignore it. I don’t know what universe you’re traveling in James, but this is the opposite of ignoring it.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t know.” When Sirius gave him a confused look, he continued in sputtering starts and stops. “You- I never thought about it. I didn’t know I felt that way about you. Or that you felt that way about me. I wouldn’t- I wouldn’t have done that.”

“You didn’t know,” Sirius repeated, an edge of disbelief in his voice, but not like he thought James was lying. “Are you bloody kidding me?” He let go of his book, and it tumbled to the ground with a thump that neither of them heeded.

James shook his head. “I’m sorry. Can we start? Now? Please?”

Sirius grabbed him by the front of his robes and wrenched him in, pressing a long overdue kiss to James’s lips. “I-” kiss “cannot-” kiss “believe-” kiss “you didn’t-” kiss “know.” He kissed him again, opening his mouth against James’s in an invitation that was eagerly accepted. “Everyone in the whole bloody castle knew, and you didn’t. Do you have any idea what it’s like to tell people that no, we’re not fighting, we didn’t break up, you’re just asking Lily out? Any idea, Jamie?”

“Can’t say I do,” he said breathlessly, addicted to the kisses Sirius was giving him so frequently as if to catch up on all the ones they missed.

“Out of curiosity,” Sirius said, looking pleased about his effect on James, “what made you realise?”

James grimaced. “Lily sort of… shouted it at me.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she channeled Merlin himself to get through your thick skull.”

“Me either.” James kissed him again. “Can I keep buying you flowers? And chocolates? And playing with your hair?”

“It’s required, Prongs, how dare you imply otherwise.”

James beamed at him, already calculating how many gladiolus were in the UK that he could buy Sirius by the weekend.